Borussia Monchengladbach have announced the signing of defender Timothee Kolodziejczak from Spanish side Sevilla for a reported fee of €7.5 million.
The 25-year-old has penned a contract that runs until June 2021 at Borussia-Park and has already trained with his new team-mates in Germany.
The French defender made over 90 appearances for Sevilla and won two Europa League titles during his two-and-a-half-year spell in Spain after joining the club from Ligue 1 side Nice in August 2014.
Adebayor to captain Togo in Nations Cup
Striker Emmanuel Adebayor will captain Togo at the African Nations Cup despite being without a club since leaving Premier League side Crystal Palace last May.
Adebayor and veteran goalkeeper Kossi Agassa are currently free agents yet both were included in the 23-man squad for the tournament starting later this month in Gabon.
Agassa, 38, left French club Stade Reims last season while Adebayor has only played for Togo in the last eight months, although he has been linked with a possible move to French Ligue 1 side Montpellier once the tournament concludes.
Lookman ready for Everton challenge
Everton have announced the signing of winger Ademola Lookman from Charlton on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee.
The 19-year-old made his debut for the Addicks in November 2015 and scored five goals in the Championship before the club were relegated to League One.
Lookman has scored seven times for the Londoners this term and is relishing a “dream move” to Goodison Park.
He said: “It feels great to be an Everton player.
“It was great playing in the Championship last season and for the last six months in League One but I feel like I’m ready to make the step up to the Premier League with Everton.”
Osasuna sack head coach Caparros
Osasuna sacked manager Joaquin Caparros yesterday, less than two months after the Spaniard took charge, with La Liga’s bottom club desperate to get out of relegation trouble.
The 61-year-old Caparros, who took over from the sacked Enrique Martin in November, oversaw only eight matches – five league games and three in the King’s Cup – winning just one and losing the other seven.
Director of football Petar Vasiljevic has been put in charge of the first team until Osasuna name Caparros’s successor.
Caparros’s sacking is Osa-suna’s second and the La Liga’s seventh managerial change this season.
Defoe is a proven goalscorer – Bilic
Slaven Bilic believes Jermain Defoe would be the answer to West Ham’s goalscoring problems.
The Hammers are understood to be trying to lure their former striker back to the club from Sunderland to boost their firepower.
Bilic said: “The chairman is trying really hard to get some players, if it’s going to be possible, in positions we think we need. I’m not going to talk about names in public.
“(Defoe) has the things that are the most important in a football games – that’s goals. He scored them last season, he was probably the main reason they stayed up, and then he continues to do the same this season, scoring again.”
Coquelin out for up to four weeks
Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin will be out for up to four weeks after injuring his hamstring during the Gunners’ 3-3 Premier League draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday.
Coquelin’s injury leaves Arsene Wenger short of options in central midfield, with long-term absentee Santi Cazorla still sidelined by an ankle problem and Mohamed Elneny on international duty with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.
Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka are the only senior central midfielders available.
“He (Coquelin) is out for three or four weeks now (with a) hamstring (injury),” Wenger told reporters yesterday.
Rodriguez to fight for place at Real
James Rodriguez has rowed back on comments that raised speculation about his future at Real Madrid by stating his desire to stay at the European champions.
The Colombia international, whose role at Real has diminished in the last two seasons since his €80 million move from Monaco in 2014, scored twice in a 3-0 win over Sevilla in the King’s Cup last 16 on Wednesday.
The playmaker has made just four league starts this campaign and in December stated he would consider his options if he did not get more playing time.
“Everyone in the team wants to play all the time and we all go through bad moments but now a new year has begun for me and I’m staying, I’m staying at Madrid,” Rodriguez said.