Paris SG will not sign any more players before the end of the transfer window while keeping the door ajar for Ezequiel Lavezzi to leave, club president Nasser al-Khelaifi said.
“Layvin Kurzawa is our last recruit,” Al-Khelaifi said a day after the French champions signed the defender from Monaco.
PSG have also signed Argentina winger Angel Di Maria and German keeper Kevin Trapp.
Argentina forward Lavezzi, who has failed to live up to expectations since joining from Napoli in 2012, could be leaving.
“He’s got one year left on his contract. If clubs are interested, we’ll discuss with them,” Al-Khelaifi said.
Illness woes for Aston Villa
Aston Villa’s preparations for the visit of Sunderland in the Premier League today have been disrupted by illness.
Manager Tim Sherwood confirmed that several first-team players had missed training yesterday.
“There are a couple who are not here today because they’re ill,” Sherwood said.
“A few players have not been able to make training and the docs will assess them. They are not well now but we hope they will be okay.”
Sherwood also confirmed that former Barcelona forward Adama Traore had not trained since picking up an ankle injury in Villa’s 5-3 midweek win over Notts County in the League Cup.
City’s ‘astonishing’ offer to De Bruyne
Manchester City have made an “astonishing” salary offer to Kevin de Bruyne, Wolfsburg’s director of sport Klaus Allofs has revealed.
Allofs said negotiations with City over a move had come closer to an agreement – there have been reports the Bundesliga side want £54m as a transfer fee for the Belgium international.
Allofs said: “He’s had an astonishing offer from City and we can’t compete with that. We had to take it seriously and that is the way we react with our players and finally we decided to start negotiations with City.”
Astana not ready for CL group – coach
Rank outsiders Astana are not ready to make their maiden appearance in the group stages of the Champions League, according to their Bulgarian coach Stanimir Stoilov.
The Kazakh team were drawn in Group C on Thursday alongside twice winners Benfica, 2014 runners-up Atletico Madrid and regular Champions League combatants Galatasaray.
“We’ll try to do our best,” said Stoilov.
“I think we can get some points but it will be difficult. We’re still not ready to play at this level but you can achieve anything when you have a dream. We are certainly looking forward to it.”
Toivonen joins Sunderland on loan
Sunderland have signed Sweden international Ola Toivonen on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 side Rennes.
The 29-year-old attacking midfielder joined Rennes in January 2014 and has scored 14 goals in 46 league appearances for the club. He also has more than 40 caps for Sweden.
“I worked with Ola at PSV so I know him well,” Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat said.
“He is a national team player with a lot of experience, an attacking midfielder who can score goals and is good in the air – he will bring something different to the team.”
Toivonen was at Dutch champions PSV from 2009-14, winning the KNVB Cup and Dutch Super Cup with the club.
Valencia sign centre-back Santos
Valencia have agreed to sign Brazilian centre-back Aderlan Santos from Portuguese side Braga on a five-year contract, the La Liga club said.
Valencia, who qualified for the Champions League group stage on Tuesday, needed to bolster their defence after they sold Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi to Manchester City last week.
“I am happy and honoured to sign for a great European club,” Santos said.
“Playing in the Champions League and La Liga are important goals for me,” added the 26-year-old, who has a market value of €7.5 million according to Transfermarkt.com.
Robben handed Holland captaincy
Danny Blind has named Arjen Robben as captain for the forthcoming European Championship qualifying matches against Iceland and Turkey.
Blind, who took over from Guus Hiddink as national coach last month, has decided to give the armband to Bayern Munich playmaker Robben instead of previous skipper Robin van Persie, who has agreed to become vice-captain.
Blind told the knvb website: “I have not made this choice based on their soccer skills.
“In the guidance and coaching of team-mates Van Persie and Robben are not inferior to each other but they are two different personalities and right now I need a leader with (Robben’s) onfield presence.”