Football news

Ajax have been named as the 16th and final team that will compete in the inaugural NextGen Series – an elite international competition for Europe’s finest young talent.

Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Celtic and Aston Villa will all field teams in the competition, which has been formed to allow Europe’s best young talent to hone their skills in a highly competitive environment.

The British clubs will be joined by the likes of Barcelona, Inter and PSV across the four-group format, which will see teams play home and away before the knock-out stage.

Fixtures begin on September 15 and the first champions will be crowned in January.

Yeung ‘gives Blues assurances’

Carson Yeung has assured Birmingham he will continue to provide his backing for the club despite facing five charges of money laundering amounting to £59m in Hong Kong.

Blues acting chairman Peter Pannu flew out to Hong Kong to hold talks with Yeung who has been released on bail until the next court hearing on August 11.

Pannu said Yeung hopes to attend the opening game of the season on August 6 against Derby.

Yeung had to surrender his passport under the terms of his bail agreement.

“I have an assurance Yeung’s support for the club continues,” Pannu said yesterday.

“He will visit once some priorities in Hong Kong are sorted out, hopefully for our first game.”

Alves wants Neymar for Barca

Barcelona full-back Dani Alves said he would sign his Brazil team-mate Neymar from Santos for the Catalan club if only he had the money.

Neymar, under contract for another four years at Pele’s old team, has long been coveted by Chelsea but seems set on staying put in his homeland for now. However, Alves has other plans for him.

“If I had the money, I’d sign him up for Barca because he’s one of the best players in the world right now. And he’s a close friend,” said Alves.

“I have a very special relationship with Neymar and he’s a person I’d want to advise to be at my side rather than lined up against me.”

Bolivia draw not so bad – Banega

Argentina’s opening Copa America draw with Bolivia was not a terrible result at all, midfielder Ever Banega said.

“It was not so bad, the team tried to win. A draw is not such a bad result to start off. We had a lot of chances but did not put them away. We must now put Bolivia behind us,” Banega said.

Javier Pastore, a midfielder left on the bench, added that “it is not easy to play the first game in Argentina so the pressure was on but we have to keep beavering away.”

The hosts now meet early group leaders Colombia in Santa Fein a tantalising encounter on Wed­nesday.

French footballers strip off to provoke

With France set to face hosts Germany at the women’s World Cup tomorrow, members of the French squad say they have posed naked for pictures to draw attention to their sport.

Juvisy forward Gaetine Thiney, 25, plus Lyon’s Elodie Thomis, 24, and Corine Franco, 27, said they posed provocatively for the pictures which appeared in Bild yesterday to spark controversy and generate publicity.

The trio posed for the pictures under the motto: “Is this how we should show up before you come to our games?”

Fresh from their 4-0 hammering of Canada last week, in which Thiney scored twice and Thomis also netted, the trio said they want to draw attention to their sport and create some debate of the women’s game.

Chinese leaders snare $10m Conca

Guangzhou Evergrande have smashed the Chinese transfer record after they swooped for Argentine midfielder Dario Conca for $10 million from Brazilian club Fluminese.

Conca, who was voted player of the season in Brazil, signed for the Chinese Super League leaders on a three-and-a-half year deal, according to Sina.com.

He becomes the most expensive player ever in the Super League, several Chinese websites said.

The previous record was also set by big-spending Evergrande after they snared Brazilian Cleo for $4.65 million earlier this year, the Information Times said.

Kagawa dismisses Man. United talk

Japan’s rising star Shinji Kagawa has said any talk of him moving to Manchester United is purely media speculation and insists he is content at German champions Borussia Dortmund.

The 22-year-old insists any interest in him by United has ‘only come from the newspapers’ and says he is concentrating on winning his place back in the Dortmund team after breaking his foot in January.

“I can only say that in Borussia Dortmund I have found a won-derful place to play football and I just feel comfortable here,” Kawaga said.

Kagawa broke his foot playing for Japan at the Asian Cup in January and made a brief return to the Dortmund team at the end of last season.