Fabio Borini’s £14m move from Liverpool to Sunderland in the balance

Fabio Borini’s £14m move from Liverpool to Sunderland in the balance

Fabio Borini, left, is wanted by Sunderland, who hope to sign the forward for £14m. Photograph: Michael Regan/Getty Images

Fabio Borini’s proposed £14m move from Liverpool to Sunderland remained in the balance on Saturday night as the Italian forward played hard to get.

While reports that Borini has rejected the transfer out of hand are wide of the mark, Gus Poyet and Sunderland clearly have some persuading to do if they are to sell the idea of a long-term move to Wearside to a player who enjoyed a successful loan stint at the Stadium of Light last season.

Following Sunderland’s 5-1 friendly win at Darlington on Saturday Poyet confirmed Sunderland had agreed a fee with Liverpool for Borini and said he was waiting to speak to the striker.

Poyet claimed the 23-year-old, who scored 10 goals for his side last season, would be a “perfect” signing. “What I can say is that we have agreed [a deal] with Liverpool, we are waiting for correspondence and then we move on from there,” said Sunderland’s manager.

“It’s clear the impact Fabio had last season. And we are going to spend that amount of money on a player because we know how much he can give us. He would be perfect for us but it’s an ongoing thing.”

Undeterred by reports, largely from Italy, that Borini is digging his toes in and will not leave Liverpool, Poyet expects to speak to the Italian within the next few days. “We have done the steps that we needed to do properly, and now we are waiting. We want to do things the right way,” he said.

Borini played just over an hour for Liverpool in their 2-1 friendly win over Preston at Deepdale on Saturday.

“He spent a really successful period with Sunderland last year, and it’s obviously a fantastic club,” said Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool’s manager who is on the brink of signing Loïc Rémy, the France striker, from QPR for £8m.

“They’ve offered to buy Fabio and that’s where it’s at. There is an agreement between the clubs, but nothing is agreed with the player as of yet. So he’s still very much a Liverpool player, but when that changes, I’m sure you’ll be among the first to know.” With Rodgers keen to sell, Sunderland anxious to buy and a lack of rival suitors willing to match the fee, there is a sense that Borini can only stall for so long.

Arsenal sign full-back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United for £12m

Arsenal sign full-back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle United for £12m

Mathieu Debuchy was unveiled as an Arsenal player on Thursday, signing for a fee of around £12m Photograph: Stuart Macfarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Arsenal have signed the full-back Mathieu Debuchy from Newcastle. The 28-year-old, who was part of the France World Cup squad who reached the World Cup quarter-finals, will present a ready-made replacement for Bacary Sagna, who has left Arsenal to join Manchester City on a free transfer.

A post on Arsenal’s official Twitter feed read: “It’s official - Mathieu Debuchy has signed for Arsenal!”

Debuchy, who has cost around £12m, becomes Arsenal’s second signing of the summer, following the arrival of Alexis Sánchez from Barcelona.

Debuchy said: “I’m very proud to be joining a great club like Arsenal and to wear its colours. It’s one of the biggest clubs in the whole world. I’m looking forward to working with Arsène Wenger and to helping the team build on last season’s FA Cup success. Playing again in the Champions League is a big excitement for me and I will do my best to help Arsenal compete for trophies.”

Wenger said: “We are delighted to welcome Mathieu Debuchy to Arsenal. He has shown he can perform at the highest level with his club sides and also for France. He is a quality defender who has good Premier League experience and I’m confident he will fit in very well with us.”

Debuchy made 46 appearances in his 18 months on Tyneside after signing from Lille, where he won the league and French Cup double in 2010-11. He was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season the following year, having also won the first of his 25 France caps in October 2011 against Albania.

Top 20 ranked teams

England plummet to 20th in Fifa world rankings while Germany go top

Wayne Rooney scored his first ever World Cup goal in Brazil but could not stop England's early exit. Photograph: Michael Regan/The FA via Getty Images

England have slumped to their lowest Fifa ranking for 18 years following their disappointing World Cup campaign.

Germany top the world rankings, which take into account matches played during the World Cup as well as 46 friendlies, for the first time in approximately 20 years.

Argentina, the runners-up in Brazil, have risen to second and semi-finalists Holland have climbed from 15th to third.

England are among the biggest fallers after Roy Hodgson’s side were eliminated in the group stage following defeats to Italy and Uruguay, plummeting from 10th to 20th.

The last time England were ranked so low was in June 1996, when they were placed 24th before Euro 96. However, their position was artificially depressed because they did not have to qualify for the tournament.

Brazil are down four places to seventh after being thumped 7-1 in their semi-final by Germany and then beaten 3-0 by Holland.

Other underperforming sides also dropped down the table, with Portugal slipping from fourth to 11th and Italy falling five places to 14th.

All of the teams who went out the World Cup in the quarter-finals have climbed up the rankings: Colombia (fourth, up four places), Belgium (fifth, up six), France (10th, up seven) and Costa Rica (16th, up 12).

England’s performance may have repercussions for their next World Cup qualifying campaign. If they remain outside the top nine European nations they face being unseeded when the draw is made in St Petersburg next July.

Top 20 ranked teams

1 Germany, 2 Argentina, 3 Holland, 4 Colombia, 5 Belgium, 6 Uruguay, 7 Brazil, 8 Spain, 9 Switzerland, 10 France, 11 Portugal, 12 Chile, 13 Greece, 14 Italy, 15 USA, 16 Costa Rica, 17 Croatia, 18 Mexico, 19 Bosnia-Herzegovina, 20 England

Toni Kroos joins Real Madrid from Bayern Munich for £20m

Toni Kroos joins Real Madrid from Bayern Munich for £20m

Toni Kroos arrives in Madrid after completing his £20m move from Bayern.
Confidence is not in short supply if you are a German player these days so it was no surprise to hear Toni Kroos back his chances of forging a successful career at Real Madrid as he was announced by the reigning European champions on Thursday.

After a flirtation with Manchester United towards the end of last season when David Moyes was still at Old Trafford, the 24-year-old’s decision to reject the offer of a new contract with Bayern Munich has taken him to the Bernabéu instead, in a deal thought to be worth around £20m.
Perhaps it was the self-assurance that comes from leading your country to victory in the World Cup final four days previously but Kroos – who scored two goals in the 7-1 destruction of Brazil in the semi-finals – was clearly not overawed as he was presented in front of 8,000 fans before taking to the pitch wearing his No8 shirt.

“I know that at this club you are expected to win trophies but I’m the right man for that because I’m used to winning,” said Kroos, who joins on a six-year deal. “I know this is the correct decision and I’m very proud to have made it. I cannot think of anything more wonderful than being here. This is the biggest club in the world. In 2013 I won the Champions League and in 2014 Real won it, and I hope we can win it again next year. I hope to be able to return the confidence this club has shown in me.”

He added: “I like pressure, I have done ever since I started playing. In Bayern there is also only one option, to win. I’m here to win trophies and that’s what stimulates me.”

United’s pursuit of Kroos came to an end after the German reportedly held talks with Louis van Gaal before the World Cup but it is believed the lack of Champions League football at Old Trafford next season was a major factor in his decision. That will not be an issue at Real, who won their record 10th European crown last season by beating rivals Atlético Madrid.

A product of Hansa Rostock’s youth system before moving to Bayern at the age of 15, Kroos has won three Bundesliga titles and three German Cups in addition to the Champions League and World Cup.

“This is a very young player but one with an incredible honours list,” said the Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez. “We weren’t surprised by his performances during the World Cup, they were just confirmation that we had chosen the right player.”

Turning to Kroos, he added: “The demands placed on you at Real Madrid are unlimited. You arrive at a club that has just won the European Cup but you have come here to make this club even greater.

“Madridistas always want more and you’ve come here to make this club even greater, and the fans are already dreaming about winning their 11th European Cup.”

Whether compatriot Sami Khedira is part of that challenge under Carlo Ancelotti remains to be seen, although the Germany midfielder’s agent has hinted that there could still be a future for him at the club after denying reports that Arsenal had a bid accepted. Chelsea are also rumoured to be interested in a player whose contract in Spain expires next summer.

Kroos said he had spoken to Khedira about Real but admitted his team-mate’s future has yet to be resolved. “He told me great things about Madrid and reaffirmed my thoughts,” he said. “But what happens in the future is up to him, not to me. It depends on him and Madrid.”
Real’s planning for next season has already seen them set up a deal to sign the Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas,27, from Levante, with Diego López expected to leave.

Louis van Gaal says challenge at Manchester United is to finish top

Louis van Gaal says challenge at Manchester United is to finish top

Louis van Gaal has wasted no time in getting to grips with the challenge of managing Manchester United. 

Louis van Gaal says he is only interested in winning the Premier League in his first season at Manchester United. The Dutchman has, however, asked for patience from supporters while expressing concerns over the club’s commercial expectations.

The new Old Trafford manager has already suffered a first setback, with Michael Carrick out for up to 12 weeks with an ankle injury, but he has suggested there could be roles for Paul Scholes and Phil Neville at the club.

Regarding ambitions the 62-year-old was asked if Champions League qualification is the minimum requirement next season. “For me, the challenge is always to come first, not fourth,” Van Gaal said. “But that depends on things clicking between the players and manager. I have a strong philosophy. Sir Alex Ferguson did too, and he won a lot of titles. I hope I can do that.

“First of all I have to see how the players perform my philosophy and how quickly they pick it up. I haven’t worked with most of them so we have to wait and see – it’s very important that there is a click between the players and the manager. When you analyse it, it’s about the click.”

Despite having managed Barcelona and Bayern Munich, two of the world’s biggest clubs, Van Gaal seemed taken aback by the size and demands of United. On Wednesday, the day he officially started, United announced another sponsor, taking the number affiliated with the club close to 40.

When answering his first question, regarding his aim for United in his first campaign, Van Gaal pointed to commercial demands. “I will do my utmost,” he said. “That’s the best that I can give. I cannot give predictions because you never know. It’s the biggest club in the world and within two days I know already how important Manchester United is, but also how important the sponsors are and I have to work and prepare a team and I have to adapt to this big club. It will not be easy but when you see my career you see what I have won. The future shall show if I can do it again.”

Asked if he can meet the expectations of the 20-times champions, again Van Gaal cited the tension between the on and off-field roles of United. “I think I can. But it is difficult because the greatness of this club is more than other clubs. And this club is guided in a commercial way and it is not always possible to meet commercial and football expectations,” he said.

“It is the biggest club because of world renown but in sport you are never the biggest unless you’ve proved it every season. You are not the biggest if last season you were seventh. Then you are not the biggest but are well known all over the world. In China and Brazil people talked about Man Utd when I was coach of the Dutch team. There is a lot of expectation. It is a great challenge because of that. Barça were No1 in Spain, Ajax No1 in the Netherlands and Bayern Munich No1 in Germany and now Man Utd No1 in England and I hope I shall fulfil the expectation.

“The owners and CEO have a lot of confidence in me and because of that they have come to me. I have explained my philosophy and they were excited and that is why I am here. That is why we have to see if I can fulfil the expectations and that of the fans. But in the world of football you cannot predict.”

With United saying that Carrick had surgery on Thursday morning to left ankle ligaments after turning it in training on Tuesday, Van Gaal said: “It is a big blow because he is an experienced player. It is important we have experienced players, not only age and football experience but as human beings.”

Although Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, who was Van Gaal’s captain as he guided Holland to third place at the World Cup, are favourites to be his United leader, the manager again asked for patience. “All players are candidates for the captaincy. It is a very important role so I need time,” he said. “Sometimes I did not have the time and I made quick decisions, which is not good. I will use my time for it because the captain is very important.”

With Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera already recruited, Van Gaal once more stated the need to wait before deciding who else he may bring in. “My method is always the same and I want to look at the players present. Of course, I know how they play but I do not know the players I have trained. So the first three to four weeks I will see how they can do and then maybe I shall buy other players. Shaw and Herrera were already on the list and I gave my approval because I like them but first I want to see the player perform my philosophy.”

Regarding Scholes and Neville, he said: “Nicky Butt is already assisting. We shall find a role for Scholes and Neville. That is what we want, but it has to be possible. We also have to adapt to the qualities of these persons. We must speak to them personally.”

England v India: second Test

England v India: second TestEngland v India: second Test

18th over: India 42-1 (Vijay 20, Pujara 8)

Another edge, another boundary. This time it flies to the right of the man at gully. And then Vijay pushes the ball past Broad at mid-off, making him sprint after it all the way to the ropes but also giving him no chance of actually catching it. Another four. "Here in Germany it’s cauliflowersoup (Blumenkohlsuppe) fruitsalad (Obstsalat) or even treacletart (Melassentorte) so that all makes sense to me," writes Berlin-based Martin Dixon of that lunch menu.
12.20pm BST

17th over: India 34-1 (Vijay 12, Pujara 8)

Anderson gets a breather, with Stokes getting a bowl. And a decent over it is to, getting much closer to the length everyone (except the ones bowling) have been demanding this morning. There's one lbw shout, but the ball is on its way across Pujara's stumps and out the other side. "Is nitpicking one word, too?" wonders Adam Czarnowski. Touché.
12.16pm BST

16th over: India 34-1 (Vijay 12, Pujara 8)

A good over from Plunkett, who has Vijay squirming repeatedly. How the batsman got through that over without edging the ball into someone's grateful mitts, or indeed anywhere else (to be fair he did edge one, but it landed well short of fourth slip) I simply do not know.

"I once met an ergonomist at a party (no kidding - he had a PHD and everything)," recalls Robert Wilson. "He was an irritable kind of man, tortured by a wife who put bookshelves in front of light switches and tables in front of electrical sockets. He told me two things. That I had the worst posture he had ever seen in a healthy adult and that cricket bowling was the most ergonomically illiterate human activity he could think of. Strangely, Jimmy Anderson was the one exception to his indignant theory. He said he was highly operative. So, that must be nice."
12.12pm BST

15th over: India 34-1 (Vijay 12, Pujara 8)

After the famine, the feast: not only is this not another Anderson maiden, there's barely a dot ball – instead there are three singles and a four flashed through long leg. Here's the players' lunchtime menu. I don't know what you think of it, but my thoughts are: I can just about handle "stirfry" and "cheesecake" but there's no way that "icecream" is just one word. If you're putting "icecream" on the menu, you might as well have "fruitsalad" and "treacletart".



12.07pm BST

14th over: India 27-1 (Vijay 10, Pujara 3)

Liam Plunkett replaces Broad, and there's a no ball and a leg bye. Apparently some of you aren't seeing the score updates, just the paragraph of twaddle that I produce underneath them. I can't explain it. I can see them. And, talking of technological malfunctions: "What’s happened to your Scoreboard and Desktop Scoreboard?" asks Archie Campbell. "Can we have them back please?" The answer to your first question is: they've temporarily gone, and will return soon from another supplier. The answer to your second question is: yes, but not today. Sorry.
12.03pm BST

13th over: India 25-1 (Vijay 10, Pujara 3)

Anderson's over (another maiden) is interrupted two deliveries in by a lengthy drinks break. "Hi," says Paul Ward. Hello. "How many people have commented on Anderson landing an early blow?" Amazingly, you're the very first. Well done.



12th over: India 25-1 (Vijay 10, Pujara 3)

On Sky, the commentators are grumbling about Alastair Cook's captaincy. Which makes a nice change. England don't have enough players in catching positions, they say. Whatever, the first hour was supposed to be a hellish procession of broken batsmen heading to and from changing rooms, but has in fact been rather sedate.
11.51am BST

11th over: India 20-1 (Vijay 8, Pujara 0)

The second boundary of the day is a near-exact re-enactment of the first – an edge that flies between third slip and gully – and denies Anderson a sixth straight maiden. There's also an lbw shout against Vijay, though the umpire Kumar Dharmasena is unimpressed (Hawkeye thinks it would have just clipped the bails).


10th over: India 16-1 (Vijay 4, Pujara 0)

One delicious delivery straightens and zips an inch wide of Pujara's bat, a really lovely bit of bowling. India add one to their scoreline with some sharp running, and after 10 overs leg bye has scored nearly a third of their runs.
11.41am BST

9th over: India 15-1 (Vijay 4, Pujara 0)

Anderson's been listening to what everybody has been grumbling about, and angles his first three deliveries into Pujara before getting the fourth to move away just a tad. The batsman leaves it. That's Anderson's fifth over of the day, and his fifth maiden.
11.37am BST

8th over: India 15-1 (Vijay 4, Pujara 0)

The batsmen aren't being forced into action here. They're just leaving everything that isn't going to actually hit them, and that means about 80% of deliveries bounce harmlessly into Prior's gloves. Bah.
11.33am BST

7th over: India 15-1 (Vijay 4, Pujara 0)

"So how do you discipline yourself Simon?" wonders Ravi Nair, as Anderson continues to convince the ball to zip this way and also that but without tempting Pujara into anything regrettable. "I suddenly have a vision of Graun Towers with an extra-long hair brush that the OBOers use when necessary, bending over, whacking hard and letting out soft, left-wing shrieks …" It's an interesting idea. Imagine if someone let out an involuntary right-wing shriek. They'd be hounded out of the building.
11.29am BST

6th over: India 15-1 (Vijay 4, Pujara 0)

"That's a class toss that," hums Sam Cottis. "You can tell from the skyward glances, as if the coin has sprung towards the heaven like a rocket from his thumb." It was indeed mighty fine work. Meanwhile Vijay drives Broad's first delivery through point for four.
11.26am BST

5th over: India 11-1 (Vijay 0, Pujara 0)

Fact: Anderson is now level with Botham as the all-time greatest Lord's Test wicket-taker, with 69 (this is his 16th Test, where Beefy played 15). After them come Trueman (63, 12 Tests), Broad (52 in 13), Willis (47 i 9) and Statham (45 in 9).
Updated at 11.26am BST
11.20am BST

4th over: India 11-1 (Vijay 0, Pujara 0)

This was a good toss to win, truly it was. Just to prove it, Broad gets the ball to move away from Vijay but just beyond the bat. Then Vijay does edge the last ball of the over, Prior dives to his right but the ball dips sharply at the last moment, he slightly misjudges its flight and the chance goes down.

And yes, I know the scoreline said Sri Lanka after Dhawan's wicket fell. I have disciplined the person responsible*. We can get over this.

* It was me. Sorry.

England captain Alastair Cook tosses the coin alongside Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India ahead of day one of the second Test at Lord's. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
3rd over: India 11-1 (Vijay 0, Pujara 0)

Anderson is getting plenty of movement – the wicket ball, for example, started well wide of leg stump and caught the bat level with off stump. Promising signs. "Are we meant to assume from your stats that, as captain, Cook is a useless tosser?" wonders Peter Haden. Well as you can see this morning's was technically impeccable, so maybe he's been practicing in his bedroom at night.

WICKET! Dhawan c Ballance b Anderson 7 (India 11-1)

That's a fine catch! Anderson bowls across Dhawan and the ball catches the edge near the shoulder of the bat and flies to third slip, where Ballance takes it at his toes.
Updated at 11.16am BST
11.09am BST

2nd over: India 11-0 (Vijay 0, Dhawan 7)

Edge! From Broad's first ball it flies off Dhawan's bat and heads between third slip and gully and away for four. It may cheer England slightly that it probably didn't carry. The over also features four leg byes, as one of a few deliveries angled down the leg side catches Dhawan's thigh pad and disappears through fine leg. "Given how winning the toss makes such a difference to the prospects of winning a match (Zaltzman to insert figures; he's off the Bugle at the mo so he's got time), does it get to the point of picking a captain because of his prowess at the toss?" wonders Bob Miller. "Or perhaps the captain gets to send up a champion, much in the way that Mike Brearley wasn't really a batting, bowling or all rounder captain?"
11.05am BST

1st over: India 0-0 (Vijay 0, Dhawan 0)

Anderson takes the over-one duties and his second delivery is a snorter, jagging back a bit off the seam and beating Vijay's outside edge. A maiden.
10.58am BST

The players are now out. James Anderson has done some last-minute medecine-ball flinging. This is happening.
10.55am BST

The Lord's bell has been rung (by Rahul Dravid, since you ask), which can only mean one thing: cricket!

Um, in five minutes.
10.50am BST
Behind the scenes with the Lord's Pavilion Stewards

This has just been put online by Lord's, or someone who works there. It is almost precisely as exciting as it sounds.

German World Cup winners welcomed home

German World Cup winners welcomed home by hundreds of thousands peoples

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant Germans welcomed their triumphant national football team home in Berlin on Tuesday, waving flags and wearing the national colours as they basked in the nation’s fourth World Cup victory.

Landing at the capital’s Tegel airport, the captain Philipp Lahm led the team down the plane’s stairs holding above his head the golden trophy secured in Sunday’s final, with midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger close behind him wrapped in a German flag.

Nearly half a million revellers packed Berlin’s “fan mile”, a 1.3km stretch of road running from the west of the capital up to the iconic Brandenburg Gate, for a massive party. Many more lined the streets in the city centre along the team’s route.

Fans in Germany shirts, many with their faces painted in black, red and gold and some wearing wigs and bandanas in the national colours, had started drinking beer hours before the team’s touchdown. “It’s an amazing atmosphere, it doesn’t get any better than this,” said Lukas Klein, 19, who drove through the night from the northern city of Bremen to be in Berlin. He told his boss he was sick.

A roar went up from the crowd when the team’s plane circled overhead, and the fans counted down from 10 to its touchdown on the tarmac. “Football’s coming home!” they bellowed.

“I am really excited to welcome the World Cup winners during my lifetime. I am from East Germany and this is important,” said Guenther Richter, 51, from East Berlin.

Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Argentina in Rio de Janeiro marked the first time a reunified Germany has been world champion, with West Germany having won the trophy in 1954, 1974 and 1990. Television channels blanketed the airwaves with coverage and newspapers dedicated whole editions to the victory.

“This is what four feels like!” splashed top-selling Bild on its front cover, with a picture of the team with their hands raised. Underneath it described what it considered the four attributes of the team: self-confident, together, fierce, modern.

Germany snatched the win in extra time with a stunning goal from fresh-faced Mario Götze, the nation’s 22-year-old boy wonder.

The crowds chanted Götze’s name along with that of Schweinsteiger, who got a battering during the final match and ended up with a bloody cut under his eye. “Welcome, world champions!” Berliner Zeitung splashed on its front page.

Even the usually sober Handelsblatt business daily ran a picture on its front page of coach Joachim Löw, affectionately known as Jogi, under the headline “Model Germany”. The success of the national team since 2006, when Germany hosted the World Cup, is widely seen as having helped Germans take greater pride in their nationality, which their history had previously made them uncomfortable about displaying.