Milan are hoping to acquire Chelsea pair Fernando Torres and Marco van Ginkel before the end of the summer transfer window.
Milan club administrator Adriano Galliani has confirmed the outfit has made an official offer to Chelsea for 21-year-old Dutch midfielder Van Ginkel.
Galliani said: “We are in the last stages of the (transfer) market and we will see if we are able to acquire an important forward.
“Torres is certainly an important forward. Van Ginkel? It’s possible. We have written to Chelsea and are awaiting a response.”
League Cup exit frustrates Allardyce
Manager Sam Allardyce could not hide his frustration after West Ham were ousted on penalties by Sheffield United in the League Cup second round.
MK Dons’ 4-0 rout of faltering Manchester United dominated the headlines but the Blades were another League One side to beat Premier League opposition.
Allardyce was bothered by his side’s wasteful finishing, which meant Winston Reid’s own goal and Enner Valencia’s penalty shoot-out failure proved costly.
“The fans know we should have won,” Allardyce said.
“We opened them up time and time again but the end product deserted us. At the end of the day it is our fault.”
Bayern move a dream – Benatia
Medhi Benatia has described joining Bayern Munich as a dream come true.
Bayern have agreed a fee with Roma for the 27-year-old, who will sign a five-year contract once he completes a medical in the coming days.
“I’m delighted that my transfer has finally come off,” he said.
“It dragged out a bit and there were times when I thought it might fall through.
“But Pep Guardiola desperately wanted me and I’m really looking forward to working with him.
“He’s a fantastic trainer.”
Tottenham sign defender Fazio
Tottenham Hotspur have signed Argentina defender Federico Fazio from Europa League champions Sevilla on a four-year deal.
“I’m really happy to be here at this club, this great club with very good players,” the two-cap Argentina international told Tottenham’s official Twitter account.
“I come to Tottenham because I think it’s a very good team, a very good club, very good fans. I know Spurs is a historic club in this country and league. This is a great club,” the 27-year-old added.
Tottenham, who have enjoyed a good start to the Premier League season with two wins from as many games, host Liverpool on Sunday.
Donovan to play farewell game
Landon Donovan will be given a farewell game for the United States before he hangs up his boots at the end of the current Major League Soccer season.
Donovan, the all-time top scorer for the US, will make a final appearance for his country in an Oct. 10 friendly against Ecuador in Connecticut, the United States Soccer Federation said.
“We are looking forward to celebrating his legacy during our next home national team match and allowing fans the opportunity to thank him for all the memories he’s provided over the years,” US Soccer chief Sunil Gulati said.
Donovan, who was not selected in the 23-man squad for this year’s World Cup in Brazil, scored 57 goals in 156 appearances for the US and featured in three World Cups.
Stadium ban over player death
Algerian club JS Kabylie have been banned from playing at their home stadium while investigations into the death of their player Albert Ebosse take place, the Confederation of African Football has announced.
Ebosse died after being hit by an object thrown from the stands at the end of JS Kabylie’s 2-1 league defeat to USM Alger at the 1 November 1954 Stadium in Tizi Ouzou on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Cameroonian had earlier netted Kabylie’s equaliser from the penalty spot before USM Alger went on to score a late winner.
CAF said Ebosse had died of “a trauma caused after being hit by a sharp object”, while also confirming the first sanction against JS Kabylie, with the possibility of more to follow.
Barcelona sign defender Douglas
Barcelona have agreed to sign defender Douglas Pereira from Sao Paulo for four million euros, the Spanish club said yesterday.
The transfer fee could rise by another 1.5 million euros depen-ding on the number of games the 24-year-old right-back plays for the Catalans.
The five-year contract is pending a medical later this week in Spain, Barcelona said on their website.
His signing is the latest in a busy off-season for Barcelona, who are prohibited from signing players in the next two transfer windows after they were found to have breached rules on the signing of under-age players.