Fox Appointment: Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Tom Fox as their new chief executive. The former Arsenal chief commercial officer replaces Paul Faulkner, who left last month. Fox joined Arsenal in 2009 and had previously worked for Nike, running the company’s Asian sports marketing business, before moving to the sportswear giant’s US operation as sports marketing director.
Vargas: QPR have announced the signing of Chile forward Eduardo Vargas on a season-long loan from Napoli. The 24-year-old had attracted interest from across Europe after he helped his country to the knockout stages of the World Cup earlier this summer. The news of the deal to loan Vargas comes a day after Leroy Fer completed his move to Loftus Road from Norwich for an undisclosed fee.
Norwich: Cameron Jerome has become the third striker to join Norwich this summer after moving from Stoke for an undisclosed fee. After the acquisitions of Lewis Grabban and Kyle Lafferty, Jerome has further bolstered Neil Adams’s attacking options by signing a three-year deal.
Chopra: Former Newcastle forward Michael Chopra was picked by the Kerala Blasters, co-owned by cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar, in an international draft for the upcoming Indian Super League yesterday. A total of 49 foreign players were drafted during the session for the eight-franchise league, which is slated to run from Oct. 12 to Dec. 20. “When the drafts came up, the first name that caught our attention was that of Chopra,” former England goalkeeper David James, marquee player and manager of the Kerala team, told reporters. “We immediately de-cided to have him and are happy to have him in this team.”
Dropped: Kevin Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, who were sent home from the World Cup in disgrace, have been dropped from the Ghana squad for next month’s African Nations Cup qualifiers. Also out is Michael Essien, who made a rare public outburst after the tournament at his lack of playing time in Brazil and then quickly apologised, as well as midfielder Albert Adomah and goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey.
Coppa Italia: Third round – Sassuolo vs Cittadella 4-1.