Bayern Munich finally sign Portugal midfielder Palhinha
MUNICH, July 11: A year after a high-profile failure to sign Portugal midfielder João Palhinha, Bayern Munich finally made the deal happen on Thursday.Palhinha joins Bayern from English Premier League club Fulham for a reported fee of nearly 50 million euros on a contract through June 2028, the Bavarian club announced.Palhinha, who helped Portugal to the quarterfinals at the European Championship, is the latest signing in a Bayern rebuild after the club’s first season without a trophy since 2012. Bayern seemed sure to sign the player last year. The midfielder even travelled to Munich for a medical, but the deal – reportedly worth 65 million euros at the time – collapsed just before the end of the transfer window.Thomas Tuchel, Bayern coach at the time, was keen to sign a more defensive-minded midfielder like Palhinha in a squad. Two weeks after that, Palhinha signed a new contract at Fulham.Palhinha is the third new signing to be confirmed at Bayern since Vincent Kompany was hired as coach in May. (PTI)
Mumbai City FC rope in Greek striker Nikolaos Karelis
MUMBAI, July 11: Mumbai City FC on Thursday announced roping in Greek striker Nikolaos Karelis ahead of the upcoming Indian Super League season.The 32-year-old, also known as Nikos Karelis, is set for his maiden stint in India. He began his youth career with Ergotelis and made his senior professional debut with them in 2007.Karelis has played for seven more clubs including stints in Russia (Amkar Perm), Belgium (Genk), England (Brentford) and the Netherlands (ADO Den Haag). Mumbai City FC will be his eighth club.Karelis has netted 103 goals in 361 professional matches along with 29 assists, while his best performance at a club came for Panathinaikos, for whom he scored 36 goals in 114 competitive games.The 2014-15 season was his standout when Karelis scored 19 goals in 50 contests.He won the Greek Cup with Panathinaikos in 2013-14. Later, he also won two titles with the Greek club PAOK in 2018-19 (Super League Greece and Greek Cup).Karelis was last associated with another Greek club Panetolikos, where he was adjudged its player of the season in 2022-23. (PTI)
Shan Masood to continue as Pakistan Test captain
LAHORE, July 11: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and coach Jason Gillespie have reposed faith in Shan Masood to continue as national team’s Test captain ahead of a packed international season, but a decision on the leadership role of Babar Azam in white ball formats has been put on hold.Pakistan is scheduled to host England in a three-match Test series in October this year, while rubbers against Bangladesh, South Africa and the West Indies are also on the calendar.The PCB held a meeting here on Wednesday, which was attended by senior board officials, national selectors, Gillespie, white ball formats coach Gary Kirsten and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, to discuss Pakistan’s meek outing in the recent T20 World Cup in the Americas. However, no decision was taken on Babar’s white ball captaincy although his performance as captain and batsman came under a lot of discussion.Babar, according to the source, came under criticism for his lack of strength and leadership skills when the chips were down, especially during the T20 WC.Meanwhile, former Pakistan pacer Sarfraz Nawaz asked to sack the entire selection committee as they had shown collective incompetence in the ICC showpiece and in the build up to it. (PTI)