Aston Villa’s new signing Jordan Veretout is not yet the finished article but the French midfielder can offer the Premier League club “something different”, manager Tim Sherwood said.
The 22-year-old recently joined Villa from Nantes on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported in the media to be around seven million pounds.
“Jordan gives us something different to the other guys,” Sherwood was quoted as saying.
“He’s played a lot of football for someone so young. We’re really excited about bringing him in.”
Aston Villa travel to Bourne-mouth on Saturday for their Premier League opener.
Bojan revitalised
Stoke striker Bojan Krkic says his strength and confidence levels have returned following his first start in six months.
The Spaniard had been out of action since late January after picking up a serious knee injury during an FA Cup tie against Rochdale but he played over an hour of last weekend’s Colonia Cup defeat to Porto.
“I was happy to start and play over an hour, which was good for my fitness,” Bojan said.
“When you play, of course you want to win, but the most important thing about pre-season is improving your fitness.”
Striker Zamora returns to Brighton
Striker Bobby Zamora has signed a one-year deal to return to Brighton after 12 years, the Championship club said.
The 34-year-old former England international, who left QPR at the end of last season, had scored 83 goals in over three seasons between 2000 and 2003 during his first stint at the club.
He subsequently moved to Tottenham where he worked with current Brighton manager Chris Hughton.
Hughton said: “We are delighted to have brought Bobby back to Brighton.
“The Albion fans know everything about him, from his feats in a Brighton shirt and right through his time with Spurs, West Ham, Fulham and QPR.”
Park steps down from Gers board
Douglas Park has been replaced by his son on the Rangers board after the bus tycoon decided he could not devote the time needed to fulfil his duties properly.
Park, one of the so-called Three Bears group of shareholders, owns more than six per cent of the club and joined the board in March.
Park spends much of his time in Spain and his son, Graeme, will take his place on both the football and PLC boards.
Meanwhile, the Rangers First fans’ group announced the purchase of almost 600,000 shares.
The group has added 586,000 shares to take its total to more than 2.6 million or 3.2 per cent of the company.
Genoa and Samp race for Dennis
Stadio Marassi rivals Genoa and Sampdoria are engaged in a battle to get the signature of German Denis, the Atalanta captain, in this summer’s transfer window.
Reports in Italy yesterday said that both sides are looking to strengthen their attacking de-partment and that the 33-year-old Denis is believed to have been targeted despite Atalanta saying their player is not on the transfer list.
Corriere dello Sport reported that Genoa and Sampdoria will be tabling offers for Denis but their bids will have to be attractive to lure the Argentine away from the Bergamo outfit.
The report added that Genoa had failed to land striker M’Baye Niang from Milan.
City hand teenager Barker new deal
Manchester City have given 18-year-old winger Brandon Barker a new five-year contract to keep the promising English teenager at the club until 2020.
Barker was one of City’s best academy players last season and has been at the club since the age of nine. His new deal is a four-year extension on the remaining year he had left on his current contract.
“The talks have continued over the summer and this was the perfect time for me to sign the new contract,” Barker, who was included in the first team squad for City’s pre-season tour of Australia and Vietnam, said.
Stoke City snap up midfielder Molina
Stoke have signed Real Madrid midfielder Sergio Molina on a three-year deal, the Premier League club announced.
The 19-year-old has penned a contract until 2018 at the Britannia Stadium, subject to international clearance, but he will initially join up with the Potters’ Under-21s side.
A defensive midfielder, Molina has come through the ranks at the Bernabeu, having joined the club aged just nine. He follows in the footsteps of fellow Spanish youngster Moha, who arrived at Stoke from Barcelona earlier in the summer.
Molina becomes Stoke’s ninth close-season signing following the arrivals of Ibrahim Afellay, Philipp Wollscheid, Jakob Haugaard, Joselu, Marco van Ginkel, Glen Johnson, Shay Given and Moha.