Roma director of football Walter Sabatini expects a “foreign” head coach to take control at the Serie A club this week.
The capital club remain without a permanent coach since the dismissal of Zdenek Zeman in February, with interim boss Aurelio Andreazzoli then failing to secure European football before overseeing defeat to arch rivals Lazio in the Coppa Italia final.
Reports in Italy suggest former France manager Laurent Blanc and Lille boss Rudi Garcia are the frontrunners for the vacancy at the Stadio Olimpico.
Sabatini said: “The announcement of the new coach will come in the middle of next week.
“He will not be Italian but rather there is a 90 per cent chance he’ll be foreign.”
Jo replaces Damiao in Brazil’s squad
Brazil have added striker Jo to their Confederations Cup squad to replace Leandro Damiao, who has been ruled out due to strained thigh muscle, the Brazilian Football Confederation said.
The 26-year-old went straight to Porto Alegre where Brazil face France today in their final friendly before kicking off the Confederations Cup on June 15 against Japan.
The Atletico Mineiro striker has been in rich form since returning to Brazil and has struck up a potent partnership with Ronaldinho and Diego Tardelli.
He is currently the joint top goalscorer in this year’s Libertadores Cup and is hopeful of adding to his three caps.
Bilbao sack Bielsa
Athletic Bilbao have parted company with coach Marcelo Bielsa after deciding against offering the Argentine a contract extension.
“We think that for the interests of Athletic it is best to have a change,” club president Josu Urrutia said.
The 57-year-old Bielsa took the Basque club on a roller-coaster ride for the last two seasons.
He guided them to the 2012 King’s Cup and Europa League finals in his first year only to lose to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid respectively.
Bielsa was unable to repeat those achievements last season as Athletic Bilbao finished 12th.
Ravanelli is the new Ajaccio coach
Former Italy and Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli has been appointed coach of Ligue 1 club AC Ajaccio.
“Fabrizio Ravanelli, a world class player, is the new ACA coach. He has been director of the Juventus youth academy and coach of their reserve team,” Ajaccio said yesterday.
The 44-year-old takes over from Albert Emon who left at the end of the season after Ajaccio narrowly avoided relegation by finishing fourth from bottom.
Ravanelli played for Juventus from 1992-96, winning the Champions League in his last season with the club.
Striker Aspas chooses Liverpool
Iago Aspas chose Liverpool over offers from Italy, Portugal and other countries, the Celta Vigo forward was quoted as saying yesterday amid reports of his four-year deal with the English Premier League side.
“When I heard of Liverpool’s interest I did not hesitate even for a minute,” the 25-year-old was quoted as saying in Marca sports daily.
“It is one of the biggest clubs in the world and although I also had offers from Italy and Portugal and other countries I decided that my future was in English football.”
Celta Vigo and Liverpool are now putting the final touches to a transfer deal that will see Aspas join the Premier League team for a fee of €8.5 million plus bonuses, Marca reported yesterday.
Lukaku hints at Chelsea return
Belgian international Romelu Lukaku has given a strong hint he will return to Chelsea after spending a season on loan at Premier League rivals West Bromwich Albion.
The striker was the sixth highest scorer in the league last season with 17 goals.
“I already know where I’m going, or where I’ll be heading back to, but I won’t say any more than that,” a grinning Lu-kaku told reporters.
“The only thing I will say is that I want to succeed at Chelsea and I’m not scared of competition,” added the 20-year-old who is likely to be vying with Fernando Torres and Demba Ba for a place in the attack at Stamford Bridge next season.
Ronaldo expects to sign new deal
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is confident he will reach a deal to renew his contract with the La Liga club.
The Portugal captain arrived at Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2009 for a world record fee of more than €90 million and continued his goalscoring spree in Spain.
However, Real Madrid’s failure to win major silverware last season and reports of division in the dressing room have promp-ted speculation Ronaldo, whose contract runs until June 2015, may be seeking a move away from the Spanish capital this summer.
“I am well, calm and not worried about it.
“I know we will reach a deal,” Ronaldo said.