ROME - Romelu Lukaku is a familiar face to Premier League viewers, but the player who completed a $134.7 million return to Chelsea on Thursday is, by his own admission, not the same one who departed England two years ago.
“Italy has brought me to another level. I have never felt this strong. I have reached another level, physically and mentally,” Lukaku said in May.
Lionel Messi waved to the Parisian crowds on Tuesday after the news officially broke that he will be joining Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal with an option for a third. Messi landed at Le Bourget airport to finalize the greatest transfer in European soccer history. For those asking, “what did Messi’s shirt say?” his t-shirt read: This is Paris.
Messi waving to fans from Paris @ESPNFC
BARCELONA/PARIS - Barcelona fans gathered outside Lionel Messi's house on Monday and spoke of their sadness at the club's greatest player leaving after 21 years, while Paris Saint-Germain fans eagerly awaited his arrival in the French capital.
One Barça member filed complaints with a French court and with the European Commission to try to block any move by PSG to sign Messi, according to documents seen by Reuters on Monday.
Last week I was happily reporting to you that Lionel Messi had touched down back in Barcelona to put pen to paper on a new five-year contract at the Camp Nou. It was so widely accepted that nobody batted an eye at the six-time Ballon d’Or winner’s strange status as a free agent following the expiration of his previous deal at the stroke of midnight on July 1.
The long-awaited announcement is imminent: Jack Grealish will complete a transfer to Manchester City. Grealish’s reported $140 million price tag makes him one of the most expensive English players ever.
The biggest deal in English football is effectively done. Jack Grealish is on his way to Manchester, ahead of a medical tomorrow morning. Everything else is completed, he will now become the first £100m English player.
ROME - Olivier Giroud is confident he can strike up a fearsome partnership with AC Milan talisman Zlatan Ibrahimović after leaving Chelsea to join the Serie A side in what he described as a dream move.
The 34-year-old is expected to compete with Ibrahimović for one striker spot in Stefano Pioli’s side, but he is open to the idea of forming a vastly experienced front two with the 39-year-old Swede.
More than a few eyebrows would have been raised at the news of Lassina Traoré's move to Shakhtar Donetsk this summer. Just two years after he joined Ajax from the youth side of the Dutch giant's affiliate in Cape Town, Traoré made the $12 million move to Ukraine as one of the first signings of new manager Roberto De Zerbi, who left Sassuolo to take up the post.
After a potential title chase ended up in a fifth-place finish and a change of manager, Olympique de Marseille has been remarkably active in the transfer window this summer.
Jorge Sampaoli has been backed to the tune of $52 million as Marseille has secured 10 signings thus far. This summer has been one of transition for the side from France's second city, as Valère Germain, Yuto Nagatomo and Florian Thauvin have left the club in addition to academy graduate Maxime Lopez, Kevin Strootman and Hiroki Sakai.
Crystal Palace supporters have good reason to be excited for the coming Premier League season. The Eagles, not generally known for efficient or exciting business in the transfer market, are in the midst of a youth revolution in the current window as they seek to improve on last season's 14th-placed finish.
Aston Villa took supporters by surprise when the club splashed the cash to sign Emi Buendia from Norwich. The $42 million transfer made Buendia, 24, Villa's record signing.