Bradford City have confirmed German investors Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp have completed their takeover of the English League One club.
The Bantams announced the sale on Twitter and both Rahic and Rupp flew into the country on Tuesday to finalise the deal with the club’s joint chairmen Julian Rhodes and Mark Lawn, who will depart Valley Parade.
Bradford finished the season in fifth place before losing out 4-2 on aggregate to Millwall in the play-off semi-finals.
Bobic takes up role at Eintracht
Eintracht Frankfurt have un-veiled Fredi Bobic as their new director of sport and board member, taking on some of the duties of outgoing president Heribert Bruchhagen.
The former Stuttgart director of sport, who played for Bolton in 2002, has been out of work since being released by Stuttgart in September 2014.
The 44-year-old has signed a contract until 2019.
The Eagles secured their top-flight status by beating Nuremberg in a play-off on Monday, while Bobic’s former club Stuttgart were relegated at the end of the season.
Rafael Benitez signs Newcastle contract
Rafael Benitez has agreed to stay at Newcastle United and lead the fight for promotion back to the Premier League.
The 56-year-old Spaniard has signed a new initial three-year deal after opting not to exercise the release clause in the contract he signed in March to protect him in the event of relegation, and will have day-to-day responsibility for all football-related matters.
Benitez said: “I am extremely pleased to be staying at Newcastle United. The love I could feel from the fans was a big influence for me in my decision to stay.
“This is a huge club and I wanted to be part of the great future I can see for Newcastle.”
Rami to replace injured Varane
France’s Euro 2016 hopes suffered a setback when first-choice centre-back Raphael Varane was ruled out through injury.
The French federation said in a statement that Varane, who has earned 29 caps since making his debut in 2013, was suffering from a thigh muscle injury that would have sidelined him for too long.
Varane, who picked up the injury playing for Real Madrid earlier this month, has been replaced in the squad by Sevilla’s Adil Rami, who had already been called up as a reserve.
France are already without Liverpool centre-back Mamadou Sakho, who is suspended after failing a dope test last month.
Les Bleus take on Romania, Albania and Switzerland in Group A at the June 10-July 10 Euro finals on home soil.
Bosz agrees deal to manage Ajax
Ajax have appointed former Netherlands midfielder Peter Bosz as their new manager on a three-year deal.
Bosz, a former player and technical director at rivals Feyenoord, arrives from Maccabi Tel Aviv who he joined in January.
“It’s a good time for me as a coach. I’m very ambitious and so are Ajax,” Bosz said.
Bosz replaces Frank de Boer, who left Ajax at the end of the recently completed season after the club were beaten to the league title on the final day by PSV Eindhoven.
De Boer, however, did win four league titles in his six seasons in Amsterdam and has been linked in the media to the vacant managerial post at Premier League side Everton.
Benayoun ends Haifa stay on a high
Veteran Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun bade farewell to his club Maccabi Haifa with a 1-0 win in the State Cup final over Maccabi Tel Aviv late Tuesday.
Benayoun, who spent much of his career in England and had spells at Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, returned to Israel with Maccabi Haifa last season.
He has yet to announce where he will be playing next season.
Haifa ended an 18-year wait for the trophy as they defended stoutly against repeated Maccabi Tel Aviv attacks after forward Chen Ezra scored the only goal of the match in the 36th minute.
Leicester City show interest in Musa
Leicester City have revived their interest in CSKA Moscow striker Ahmed Musa with a fresh bid.
Foxes boss Claudio Ranieri is expected to strengthen his squad this summer as the Premier League champions look to defend their title next season as well as juggle the demands of Champions League football.
Leicester tried to sign Nigeria international Musa in January and had a bid turned down but are reported to have returned with a new offer thought to be in the region of £22 million.
Musa scored 18 goals this season as CSKA won the Russian league and the 23-year-old is currently away on international duty with the Nigeria squad.