Midfielder Jonathan De Guzman is under contract at Napoli until 2018 but the Serie A club are willing to part with the Dutchman and his next destination is likely to be Bournemouth in the English Premier League.
Bournemouth had tried to sign De Guzman last summer but the deal fell through in the last minute. He also had a medical booked but for unknown reasons he did not attend.
The 28-year-old Dutch international has never been part of Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri’s plans and hasn’t even featured on the bench this season.
‘Honved Hero’ dies
Wolves paid tribute to ‘Honved Hero’ Roy Swinbourne following his death at the age of 86.
Swinbourne scored twice as the then English champions beat the Hungarian side, which at that time provided half of the country’s famed national team, 3-2 at Molineux in December 1954.
His death was announced by Wanderers yesterday.
In a series of tweets, they said: “The club is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Wolves legend Roy Swinbourne. Roy, one of Wolves’ Honved Heroes, scored 114 goals in 230 appearances between 1946 and 1957.”
Agbonlahor set to leave Aston Villa
Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is likely to leave Aston Villa next month.
Three UAE clubs – Al Ahli, Al Wasl and Emirates – have shown interest in signing the former England striker who is out of favour with boss Remi Garde.
Garde wanted to give Agbonlahor a chance when he first arrived at the club last month but the injury-hit 29-year-old has not managed to force himself into the team.
Agbonlahor has previously insisted he would stay at Villa for his whole career having made over 350 appearances for his hometown team.
Kompany vows to beat injury problems
Vincent Kompany has vowed to return stronger from a further injury setback.
The Manchester City captain suffered the recurrence of a calf problem after appearing briefly as a substitute in City’s 4-1 win over Sunderland.
“Today was a bad day for me,” he said.
“My mindset stays unchanged. I will fight to get what I deserve, my best years in football.”
Kompany, 29, has been dogged by a succession of calf injuries and missed City’s previous eight matches.
During that absence, Man. City lost three times in the Premier League.
He played for just nine minutes against Sunderland and manager Manuel Pellegrini said the key defender’s injury problems were difficult to work out.
No.2 Genesio takes over at Lyon
Lyon have removed Hubert Fournier from his role as head coach and replaced him with no.2 Bruno Genesio for the rest of the season.
Fournier’s position had been in question for some weeks, with Lyon entering the Christmas break some 25 points behind runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain in ninth place.
Fournier’s hopes of remaining in his job were not helped by the club’s performances in the Champions League, where they finished bottom of Group H.
Genesio will take over straight away, with his first match in charge coming in the French Cup against Limoges next Sunday.
Pieters pens new contract at Stoke
Erik Pieters has signed a new contract to keep him with Stoke until the summer of 2020. The Holland international has signed a three-year extension to his current deal.
“I can look forward to a bright future now. I love being here, I have enjoyed it from the moment I first arrived here and I think we will only continue to grow stronger together,” Pieters said.
Pieters joined Stoke from PSV in the summer of 2013 and has made the left-back spot his own, making 91 appearances.
Balls takes over as Norwich chairman
Former Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has been named as the new chairman of Premier League club Norwich City.
The 48-year-old, a lifelong Canaries fan, will take up the non-executive role with immediate effect, the Premier League club announced yesterday.
Majority shareholders Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones said Balls would bring considerable economic knowledge and experience to the position.
Balls was born in Norfolk and worked in financial journalism before moving into politics. He served as a Labour MP for 10 years from 2005 and was a minister from 2007-10.
He was a Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer before losing his seat in parliament at this year’s general election.