Mel Charles: Tributes have been paid to former Wales international Mel Charles, who has died at the age of 81. The popular player was part of the Wales 1958 World Cup squad. He began his 20-year career in his hometown Swansea. Charles was the younger brother of Juventus and Leeds United great John Charles.

Bassedas: Velez Sarsfield coach Christian Bassedas handed in his resignation yesterday after a 3-0 home defeat by Racing Club that sparked a violent reaction by hardcore fans. Club president Raul Gamez confirmed that former Argentina midfielder Bassedas had resigned but told reporters he hoped to persuade the 43-year-old to change his mind.

Badelj: Reports in the UK media yesterday suggested that Tottenham Hotspur intend to add midfielder Milan Badelj to their ranks in the next transfer window if agreement is reached with his club Fiorentina. The 27-year-old Croatian could cost the London club £7m. Badelj’s contract has less than two years left to run. In summer he was linked with a transfer to Milan but a fee was not agreed between the clubs.

Hetemaj: Kosovo-born player Perparim Hetemaj has chosen to stick to Finland’s national team instead of switching to his native country. Hetemaj opted out of Finland’s World Cup qualifier against Kosovo this month, sparking speculation he could change to play for the country which had just been accepted as a member of FIFA. But Finland coach Hans Backe yesterday added Hetemaj’s name to the squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Iceland and Croatia.

De Bruyne: Manchester City are still waiting to discover the full extent of the injury to Kevin De Bruyne which saw the Belgian forced off towards the end of the win at Swansea. Reports said De Bruyne had already been ruled out for around a month with a hamstring problem, meaning he would certainly miss the Champions League game against Celtic in Glasgow on Wednesday as well as Belgium’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers next month.