Football news

Gabriel Torje, the young Romania talent labelled the new Messi, will be playing for Udinese next season after signing for the Serie A club as a replacement for Alexis Sanchez who left for Spain’s Barcelona this summer.

Club supremo Gianpaolo Pozzo said: “Gabriel Torje is a great prospect. Everyone calls him the Leo Messi of Romania.”

The 21-year-old, formerly of Dinamo Bucharest, is only 1.67m in height and can only play on the right wing. He was captain of Romania U-21 before progressing to the senior team.

This week, Udinese parted with striker German Denis who joined Atalanta.

Fenerbahce eye second division

Fenerbahce, the Turkish league champions caught in the eye of a match-fixing storm, feel that demotion to the second division will give them a chance to restore their tarnished image.

“Fenerbahce has been the subject of a campaign of denigration, people want to dishonour the club,” Fenerbahce’s vice-president Ali Koc said.

“And so our players have signified to us their wish to play in the second division, and we will be contacting the federation to request this,” Ali Koc told local media.

On Thursday, Fenerbahce lost their appeal against being banned from the Champions League over the match-fixing probe.

Falque completes Tottenham move

Tottenham announced a second loan signing late Thursday, with Juventus midfielder Yago Falque following Emmanuel Adebayor into White Hart Lane.

Falque, 21, started his pro-fessional career at Barcelona before moving to Juventus, where he has been loaned out to Bari in Italy and Spain’s Villarreal B over the last two seasons.

“Yago loves big challenges and this with Spurs is very important,” the player’s agent and father Yago Falque Snr was quoted as saying.

Falque, a Spain U-21 inter-national, is the third youngster to join Spurs following the signings of former Barcelona player Cristian Ceballos and Souleymane Couli-baly from Siena.

Barton joins QPR on four-year deal

Premier League bad boy Joey Barton has joined top-flight new-comers QPR on a four-year contract from Newcastle, the Lon-don club announced yesterday.

The 28-year-old was pictured on the QPR website holding the number 17 shirt that he will wear this season.

“It’s been quite a whirlwind, so to get things finally sorted and draw a line under it all is a great relief,” Barton said.

“There’s obviously a great set of lads here already and that’s why they had such a great season in the Championship (second division).”

Nasri praises ‘second dad’ Wenger

Samir Nasri claims Arsene Wenger was like a “second dad” to him during his time at Arsenal. The France playmaker this week quit the Gunners to join Man. City for £24m.

Despite his departure being a blow to the club, Nasri insists his three years with Arsenal, and particularly Arsene Wenger, made a big impression on him.

“I will never forget what he did for me. He was like a second dad,” Nasri said.

“He came to pick me when I was at Marseille. I was an international but I have become the player I am now because of him. He always trusted me even when I was in-jured. When I came back he always gave me my chance.”

Defender Ayala out for Norwich City

Norwich City defender Daniel Ayala has been ruled out for two months with a knee injury.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who joined from Liverpool last week, suffered the injury during the Canaries’ 0-4 midweek Carling Cup humbling at home to MK Dons.

Ayala became manager Paul Lambert’s eighth summer addition 10 days ago when he arrived from Liverpool for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract, bolstering a squad which secured successive promotions from League One to the Premier League.

He had joined the Reds from Sevilla in 2007, but found his first-team opportunities limited at Anfield, and last season spent loan spells in the Championship at Hull and Derby.

Fletcher returns for Red Devils

Darren Fletcher is back in the Manchester United squad for to-morrow’s crunch match with Arsenal after recovering from a stomach virus.

The Scotland midfielder, 27, last featured for the Red Devils in the final game of the 2010-11 league campaign against Blackpool but had been sidelined for two months between early March and early May by the virus, which caused sudden weight loss.

He suffered a relapse over the summer but manager Alex Ferguson confirmed yesterday: “Fletcher is in the squad. He is back now.”

He also revealed that defender Rio Ferdinand was back in training following a hamstring injury and that winger Antonio Valencia was training well following ankle trouble.