Football sales: Adidas expects sales of football boots, shirts and balls to rise 14 per cent to a new record of €2.5bn in 2016, helped by reclaiming leadership of top European markets for football footwear from arch rival Nike. Germany’s Adidas has long been the world’s top football brand, but it was overtaken in the market for boots in 2014, prompting Adidas to launch popular new ranges and to focus its marketing spending on more top teams and players.

Lapadula: Milan are seeking to sign last season’s Serie B top scorer Gianluca Lapadula from Pescara, reports said. Pescara president Daniele Sebastiani told MilanNews that the Rossoneri are showing keen interest in their player. “There was a meeting, because Milan asked for information about Lapadula,” Sebastiani said. “They’ve expressed their interest, but it’s clear they have to make sales to get it done, because they have a lot of players in that role.”

Cheryshev: Villarreal have acquired Real Madrid winger Denis Cheryshev on a permanent transfer with the Russian international signing a five-year deal with the La Liga club. Cheryshev returns to Villarreal, the club he played on loan in the 2014-15 campaign when he scored seven goals in 40 appearances in all competitions. Both clubs confirmed the deal but did not reveal the transfer fee, reported as being in the region of €10 million.

Bribery: Two former K-League referee chiefs have been indicted by South Korean prosecutors in a bribery scandal. Identified by their common surname Lee, they were indicted without detention by the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office for taking bribes from a referee, Yonhap news agency reported. One of them accepted a total of 12.5 million won ($10,670) from the referee, identified by his surname Choi, who paid 8.5 million won to the other Lee.