Europe

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante will sign for Saudi Arabia champions Al-Ittihad on a two-year deal, Al Ekhbariya TV said on Wednesday.

Al Ekhbariya added the contract with the 32-year-old, who won the 2018 World Cup with France, has an option to be extended for another year.

If the deal is completed as expected, Kante will line up alongside compatriot Karim Benzema who signed a three-year contract with the Saudi side on Tuesday.

Borussia Dortmund have agreed to sell England midfielder Jude Bellingham to Real Madrid for an initial fee of $110.4 million, the Bundesliga club said on Wednesday.

Bellingham will become the third player to be signed by Real Madrid for a fee worth at least 100 million euros after Gareth Bale (2013) and Eden Hazard (2019).

"With realization of this transfer, Real Madrid will pay BVB a fixed transfer compensation in the amount of 103 million euros," Dortmund said in a statement.

England’s Championship division is one of the most intense seasons in Europe. The 46 games played, just in the league itself, give players more opportunities to perform well but also for a team’s season to come crashing down. While there are additional games, every match means just as much in the Championship, if not more, as the teams compete for the right to move up to the ludicrously lucrative Premier League.

MADRID — Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema said farewell to Real Madrid in a small, private ceremony closed to fans and media on Tuesday following a trophy-laden 14-year stay with the LaLiga club.

The French striker, 35, will leave as a free agent and is set to move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad, signing a two-year deal estimated by media reports to be worth more than $106 million.

Lionel Messi, who last week played his last game for Paris St Germain, is open to making a return to LaLiga side Barcelona, the Argentine forward's father said on Monday.

Barça were forced to let their talisman leave in 2021 because his high wages coupled with strict LaLiga financial rules could have jeopardized the club's future.

Messi, who joined Barcelona's youth set-up aged 13 and went on to become the club's all-time top scorer and appearance maker with 672 goals in 778 games in all competitions, moved to PSG as a free agent on a two-year contract.

MADRID - Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema will leave Real Madrid as a free agent in the close season after 14 trophy-laden years, the LaLiga club said on Sunday, with the striker set to move to Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad.

Saudi Arabia's state-run Al Ekhbariya television station reported that Al Ittihad had reached an agreement with Benzema on a two-year contract, with club officials in Madrid to hammer out a "record deal" with the striker.