Chelsea have sent another player out on loan to the Dutch league this season after teenage Croatian striker Stipe Perica joined NAC Breda.
The 18-year-old was signed by Chelsea from NK Zadar earlier this month but is being sent to the Dutch league to gain experience, following on from Cristian Cuevas and Lucas Piazon, who both went to Vitesse Arnhem earlier this month.
NAC Breda said that Perica had signed for the season. He is a lanky U-21 international, who the club said would add a new dimension to their attack.
Fiorentina offer Montella new deal
Fiorentina want Vincenzo Montella to extend his stay in Florence by a few more years as it emerged yesterday that the Serie A club have offered a new contract to their coach.
TuttoSport reported that negotiations over a new deal started earlier this month during the club’s pre-season training retreat in northern Italy.
Agreement is already in place and all that remains is Montella’s signature over a document that will seal his place on the Viola hot-seat until the summer of 2017.
Montella, 39, led Fiorentina to a fourth-placed finish in his first season with the club.
Jailed Breno gets part-time job
Jailed former Bayern Munich defender Breno will start work as a youth coach at the treble winners as he serves out his sentence for arson with daily part-time work outside prison.
The tall 23-year-old Brazilian, once regarded as a huge defensive talent before a string of injuries and a 2012 jail sentence of three years and nine months for burning down his rented Munich villa, cut his Bundesliga career short.
Breno will work five-hour-a-day as an assistant coach to the under-23 team and return to prison each afternoon.
Costa lifts Atletico
Brazilian striker Diego Costa proved there is life after Radamel Falcao at Atletico Madrid as he scored twice to help the King’s Cup winners to a 3-1 win at Sevilla late Sunday.
Falcao was sold to Monaco in May after scoring 28 league goals for Atletico last season.
Costa had reportedly also been a multi-million euro target for Liverpool, but last season’s third-placed finishers hung on to the powerful frontman.
“Costa had a very good pre-season, putting in a lot of work, and he knows he has to be physically strong at all times,” coach Diego Simeone told reporters.
“He is very important for us because of his character which is contagious for the rest of the squad... goals are a consequence of all this.”
Everton reject joint United bid
Everton have rejected a joint bid from Manchester United for Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines, according to reports.
The £28 million bid for both internationals is said to have infuriated club chiefs at Goodison Park who value the players significantly higher.
Belgium midfielder Fellaini was signed by new United manager David Moyes when he was at Everton in 2008.
The 25-year-old cost £15 million then and that sum rose to more than £17.5 million with add-ons but United appear to be offering only £16 million for the player.
Everton had already previously rejected a £12 million offer for full-back Baines from United.
Mineiro no.1 kicks ball into crowd
Atletico Mineiro goalkeeper Victor was sent off for angrily kicking a ball into the crowd after his team’s goalless draw at Internacional in the Brazilian championship.
South American champions Mineiro played for more than one hour away to Dunga’s Internacional with 10 men but still managed to hang on for a point.
After the final whistle went, Victor collected the ball and hoofed it into the Internacional fans behind him. As he left the field, Victor was given a second yellow card and got sent off.
“It wasn’t a big deal,” he told reporters, adding he had been provoked.
“There are matches where you are spat for the whole match and they throw other liquids which you can’t identify.”
Mourinho drops Rooney hint
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has hinted he will continue his pursuit of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney until the closure of the transfer window.
The Blues have already had two bids for Rooney rejected by United, with David Moyes insisting the striker is not for sale.
Chelsea are set to test that resolve once more, perhaps even before the trip to Old Trafford next week if Mourinho is feeling mischievous.
“We will try till the last day to add a new player to the squad, a striker, but in this moment every striker has a club, every striker belongs to somebody and I don’t think it’s ethical that I name players that belong to other clubs,” Mourinho said.