Barcelona full-back Douglas has suffered a hamstring injury that is likely to keep him out for two months, the club said yesterday.
The Brazilian, who was given little playing time by coach Luis Enrique last season, went off in the first half of Barca’s friendly defeat on penalties by Chelsea during their tour of the US on Tuesday.
The right-back position has been a problem for Barcelona and while Dani Alves has renewed his contract with them, they have little cover.
Along with Douglas there is the versatile Adriano, who has been linked with a move to Roma while new signing Aleix Vidal will not be available until January due to ban on Barca by FIFA on signing players.
Goalkeeper Begovic targets starting role
New Chelsea signing Asmir Begovic insists he has no desire to play second fiddle to first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Begovic joined the Blues from Premier League rivals Stoke on a four-year deal earlier this month following the departure of Petr Cech to Arsenal.
The move has raised questions of Begovic’s motives, with Courtois firmly establishing himself as Chelsea’s number one custodian in their Premier League title triumph last season.
“I want to test myself against Thibaut, he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world but I believe in myself.
“I want to try and get as many games as I can,” Begovic said.
England Under-21s to face United States
England’s Under-21 team will kick off the new season with a friendly against the United States’ Under-23 side at Preston.
Gareth Southgate led England through a poor European Championship this summer, but will remain in his post for the upcoming qualifying campaign for the next tournament in Poland.
England start their qualification campaign against Norway on September 7.
Four days before that they will play against the American Under-23 team at Deepdale.
Hibs reject Allan transfer request
Hibernian have rejected a transfer request from midfielder Scott Allan after turning down two bids for the player from Scottish Championship rivals Rangers.
A statement from Hibernian said: “In the face of continued media interest, Hibernian can confirm that Scott Allan has handed in a written transfer request.
“This comes on the back of two unwelcome and uninvited ap-proaches from Rangers FC.
“Hibernian FC has refused both bids because the club has no wish to transfer a valuable player to strengthen a major rival in the battle to win the Cham-pionship and gain promotion to the Premiership.”
Mueller offered Bayern job for life
Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has offered Thomas Mueller a job for life at the German champions.
Mueller has been linked with a move to Manchester United but Rummenigge does not expect the Germany international ever to want to leave the Bavarian club and has therefore offered him a position after he hangs up his boots.
“I get the feeling that Thomas will never leave FC Bayern,” Rummenigge told reporters.
“And when Thomas does call it a day, we would also like to keep him as part of the club.”
Rabiot plays down spat with Zlatan
An on-field confrontation involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been played down by his Paris St Germain team-mate Adrien Rabiot.
The pair exchanged words in Sunday’s pre-season friendly against Chelsea after Ibrahimovic, who had put Paris SG ahead in the first half, gave the ball away.
Rabiot said: “With Ibra, we got a little bit heated on the field but we spoke about it in the dressing room. We put everything back in order, there were no worries.
“These things happen on the field. We laughed about it.”
PSG’s next match in the International Champions Cup sees them take on Manchester United today at Soldier Field.
Keeper Szczesny moves to Roma
Arsenal’s Polish international goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has joined Serie A side Roma on loan for the season, both clubs said yesterday.
The 25-year-old helped the Premier League side win the FA Cup last season, one of just 29 appearances in all competitions in 2014-15. The Pole’s departure follows Arsenal’s signing of Czech international Petr Cech from cham-pions Chelsea, with Szczesny already losing out last season to Colombian David Ospina in the pecking order.
Roma said Szczesny, who has made 181 appearances for Arsenal, had signed a one-year contract yesterday after successfully completing a medical in Rome.
Szczesny said: “I think there’s great potential. I know the faces of the Roma players and I know their names, so hopefully I will settle in very quickly.”