Caballero joins champions Man City
LONDON: Goalkeeper Willy Caballero has joined Manchester City from Spanish outfit Malaga on a three-year deal, the Premier League champions announced on Tuesday. The 32-year-old from Argentina will provide competition for England stopper Joe Hart, following the departure of reserve Costel Pantilimon to Sunderland. “This is a new challenge and a new league for me. I have been doing well in the previous years and my goal is to go on and hopefully perform at the same level for City,” Caballero told the club website. “I know I am coming to a big club with a very good goalkeeper. City already have a great goalkeeper in Joe Hart, but I will try and compete for the no.1 spot. I will do my best in the training sessions.” Current City manager Manuel Pellegrini signed Caballero for Malaga from Elche when in charge of the La Liga side in 2011. He is the third player to arrive at the Etihad Stadium since the end of last season, with Bacary Sagna joining on a free transfer from Arsenal and Fernando moving from Porto. The club have moved ahead with their transfer plans despite being fined up to $81.84 million (Rs 488.84 crore) and having their squad capped for next season’s Champions League after breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules. City open their title defence at Newcastle United on August 16. (Reuters)
Playmaker Tadic joins Southampton
LONDON: Southampton have signed playmaker Dusan Tadic on a four-year deal from Dutch club Twente Enschede, the Premier League side said on Tusday, as new manager Ronald Koeman starts rebuilding after three recent departures. “Welcome to Saint Dusan,” said the club’s official Twitter feed. No fee was mentioned for Tadic, who scored 16 league goals for Twente last season, but he is Koeman’s first capture since England internationals Paul Lambert and Adam Lallana left for Liverpool and fullback Luke Shaw joined Manchester United. The 25-year-old Serbian is a left-sided midfielder noted for his dribbling skills and is seen as a replacement for Lallana, who joined the Merseysiders for a fee British media reported to be 25 million pounds (Rs 255.86 crore). Koeman arrived at Southampton in June, replacing Mauricio Pochettino, who moved to Tottenham Hotspur. “It is a really nice feeling to sign. This is a really nice club of which I have heard a lot of good things,” Tadic told the club website. Koeman added: “It was very important to get this signing done – not only for me, but for the rest of the squad and for our fans. It’s fantastic news. We have lost some good players but we want to continue the ambition and philosophy of the club. He’s a great player. I know him very well from Holland, where he had a great season last year.” (Reuters)
Lee to miss Glasgow Games due to injury
Kuala Lumpur: Badminton world number one Lee Chong Wei will miss the Glasgow Commonwealth Games due to injury, a report said on Tuesday. The Malaysian, 31, has been struggling with a thigh injury for months, which made him decide last week to skip the games starting late this month, The Star reported. Lee was quoted as saying he would take four to five weeks to recover and hoped to be fit again for the World Championships in Copenhagen in late August and the Asian Games after that. “I will take one day at a time. Ultimately, I want to do well at the World Championships,” he said. “According to the doctors, there is a tear, and it will get worse if I don’t get treatment… At my age, the healing process is harder. I’m staying positive.” Lee on Saturday received the first of three stem cell injections to speed up his recovery, the report said. He said he picked up the injury before the Thomas Cup finals in May, but the pain became “unbearable” at last month’s Japan and Indonesia Opens. Lee and other sporting officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Last year, Lee was stretchered from the court during the World Championships final against his nemesis Lin Dan of China with cramp and dehydration. This prompted calls from Malaysian sporting officials for him to reduce his rigorous playing schedule and pace himself as he is looking to compete in the 2016 Olympics. Despite consistently topping the rankings, Lee is still without a world or Olympic title. (AFP)