Football news

Defender Andrea Barzagli will be joining Juventus this week, the Wolfsburg player’s agent told repor-ters yesterday.

“Andrea Barzagli will be in Turin at the start of next week,” Claudio Orlandini said.

“The deal is almost done... there are only a few details left to sort out.”

The Italy international’s contract expires at the end of the eason. He will probably go for a fee of €1m and has long been involved in negotiations with Juventus.

Yesterday, Wolfsburg decided to omit Barzagli from their squad for the Bundesliga game against Mainz.

Hamburg blast Sammer

Hamburg have reacted with amazement to Matthias Sammer’s decision to turn down their approach for him to become their new director of sport.

Sammer made up his mind to stay with the DFB on Friday after being put under pressure by both sides to reach a decision by the weekend. His snub has not gone down well in northern Germany, however, and Hamburg’s chairman Otto Rieckhoff has harshly criticised the former Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart coach.

“We are disappointed and surprised by Sammer’s refusal,” he said.

“We had held very good and constructive negotiations over the past few weeks so his refusal for us is unacceptable.”

Mido heads home to Zamalek

Former Tottenham and Middlesbrough striker Mido has joined Egyptian side Zamalek and claims he will spend the rest of his career with the club.

Mido, 27, began his career with Zamalek before signing for Belgian side Gent and moving on to Ajax.

He has since represented clubs including Marseille and Roma, and had loan spells at Wigan and West Ham.

He had played with Ajax this season before training recently with Middlesbrough but the Egypt international now wants to see out his playing days with Zamalek.

Mido said: “I’d like to hang up my boots in Egypt. My only objective is to retire here.

“It’s time to return home. I’m here to achieve trophies with Zamalek.”

Terry hands Chelsea fitness boost

Key defender John Terry handed Chelsea a fitness boost when he insisted he will start tomorrow’s crucial clash at Bolton. Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti had suggested the 30-year-old had been suffering from a back injury, but Terry said he is ready to play.

“On Monday I took a knee to the ribs, which were sore and resulted in me missing the last two days’ training with the squad,” said Terry.

“I have been able to do some pool work and stepped up training on Friday whilst the rest of the squad were off. I will be available for Monday’s game at Bolton.”

The news will come as a relief to Chelsea fans, especially as Frank Lampard’s calf injury is causing concern.

Bluebirds agree Ramsey loan

Cardiff have confirmed an agreement has been reached with Arsenal over the one-month loan of Aaron Ramsey to the Welsh club.

The 20-year-old joined the Gunners from the Bluebirds in a £5m deal during June 2008 and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said that the midfielder was likely to head back to Wales before the end of the transfer window.

The Wales international has just returned to fitness following a broken leg suffered at Stoke in February, and had a spell at Nottingham Forest to get some much-needed match practice.

Last week, Arsenal youngster Jay Emmanuel-Thomas headed to Cardiff City Stadium until the end of the season.

Step it up Karim, says Kaka

Kaka warned out-of-favour Real Madrid attacker Karim Benzema that he needs to do more to convince coach Jose Mourinho that he is the answer to the Spanish giants’ striker crisis.

“During training you can clearly see Karim’s qualities. He can be an important player for Real, it all depends on him,” said Kaka.

“Sometimes he stays a little out of the game and we believe that he can do a little more.”

Benzema’s position at the club has come in the spotlight after striker Gonzalo Higuain was ruled out of action through injury. After Real’s 1-1 draw with Almeria, club general manager Jorge Valdano was reported to have questioned why Benzema started the game on the bench.

“It’s the coach who decides. I am here to help on the pitch,” Kaka said.

Redknapp mugged at Madrid stadium

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said he was mugged by a gang of thieves at the Madrid derby.

The Spurs boss and his assistant Kevin Bond were at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon stadium for the King’s Cup quarter-final against Real Madrid on Thursday.

But as Redknapp and Bond walked around the stadium before kick-off, they were attacked.

Two men approached Redknapp, fell to their knees and started tugging at his trouser leg to distract him while four others snatched cash and other belongings from his pockets.

“They probably didn’t know who I was,” said Redknapp.

“I just probably looked stupid or something, and they thought ‘here’s one here, he’s not Spanish, obviously, and we’re looking for a foreigner’.”