De Laurentiis: Leyton Orient could be subject to a takeover by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis. De Laurentiis apparently wants to follow in the footsteps of the Pozzo family, who own Udinese and Spanish club Granada and last year took over at Championship side Watford. According to the reports, De Laurentiis wants a similar tie-in with Orient, where he could send Napoli’s younger players to gain first-team experience.

Bilic: Former Croatia coach Slaven Bilic is in talks to become the new manager of Besiktas. Besiktas director of football Zeki Onder Ozen and board member Ahmet Nur Cebi have reportedly travelled to Zagreb to finalise a two-year deal with Bilic, whose contract at Lokomotiv Moscow was cancelled by mutual consent last week.

TIM Trophy: Newly-promoted Sassuolo will join Juventus and Milan in this year’s TIM Trophy on July 23. Inter, winners of the pre-season tournament these past three years, were not invited as the organisers preferred local side Sassuolo with the event being played in Reggio Emilia.

Zoua: Hamburg have found a replacement for Son Heung-min, who has moved to Bayer Leverkusen, by signing Jacques Zoua from FC Basel. The Cameroon forward has signed a three-year contract after passing a medical. He is reunited with his former Basel coach Thorsten Fink and becomes the Bundesliga side’s first new arrival this summer.

Balotelli: Italy striker Mario Balotelli is out of the Confederations Cup because of a thigh injury and will home return to Milan for treatment. The 22-year-old Milan frontman has been ruled out of not only the semi-final against Spain tomorrow, but now also Sunday’s final or third-place play-off.

Hamill: Hearts defender Jamie Hamill became the third player to agree a 50 per cent wage cut at the club. The full-back has followed Jamie Macdonald and Ryan Stevenson in agreeing to a reduced salary to help the club cope with its serious financial problems. “I spoke to the gaffer and my wife about the situation and decided it was best to stay here as I just want to play at Tynecastle,” Hamill said.

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