Reports from France suggest that Marseille star Hatem Ben Arfa is close to completing a switch to Newcastle United in the near future. The deal is expected to be formalised on either Monday or Tuesday, with Newcastle expected to pay L OM an initial loan fee of 800,000 euros.
Ben Arfa, born in Clamart, originally played for Olympique Lyon before switching to South Coast outfit Marseille in 2008. He celebrated his 23rd birthday in March this year and has already earned seven caps for the French national team.
TSG Hoffenheim and Rubin Kazan were the other teams in contention for Ben Arfa, who is said to prefer a move to Newcastle over transferring to either Germany or Russia.
[Source:- France Football, Canal +]
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Cameroon step up their FIFA World Cup preparations with a friendly against Macedonia in Austria on Monday.
Brazil 2014 will be Cameroon s seventh appearance at a finals and they will hope to come through their friendly without any injuries as they dream of a second appearance in the knockout stages.
Only in 1990 have the African nation progressed beyond the group stages and they failed to claim a point in South Africa four years ago, but 2014 gives them a chance to put that disappointment behind them.
Victory over Tunisia secured their place in the finals and made sure they remain Africa s most successful nation in terms of appearances on the biggest stage of all with seven.
Cameroon meet their European opponents after spending the previous week in Austria at a t…
Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has been ruled out of his side s Champions League group stage match at home to FC Copenhagen on Wednesday due to fever.
Victor Valdes will not be able to defend the Barcelona goal tonight due to the vomiting and fever he has suffered over the last few hours, the Catalan club announced on their website on Wednesday afternoon.
Valdes, Spain s third-choice goalkeeper, will be replaced by Barcelona s reserve keeper Jose Manuel Pinto, with reserve team goalkeeper Ruben Mino called into the squad as back-up.
Pinto has never played for Barcelona in the Champions League and is yet to make a competitive appearance this season.
Copenhagen are top of Champions League Group D and lead Barcelona, the 2009 champions, by two points a…
Sevilla and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) have reached an agreement in principle for Jorge Sampaoli to become the new head coach of Argentina, the LaLiga club have announced.
Sampaoli joined Sevilla before the start of this season and guided them to a fourth-place finish in Spain s top flight, but the closing weeks of their campaign were dominated by speculation linking him with the national team post in his homeland after Edgardo Bauza was sacked.
The former Chile boss and 2015 Copa America winner described leading Argentina as his dream job and told reporters after last weekend s final match of the campaign, a 5-0 win over Osasuna, that the AFA needed to resolve his contract situation with Sevilla.
In a statement on their official website, Sevilla co…
Turkish heavyweights Galatasaray have expressed interest in signing Napoli defender Vlad Chiriches, Radio Marte can reveal.
The 27-year-old Romania international has been identified as one of the top transfer targets for the Turkish outlet. Galatasaray have reportedly already submitted an offer for the defender but Partenopei are not entirely satisfied with the proposed terms.
Galatasaray’s €2 million offer is thought to be €3 million shorter than Napoli’s valuation of the defender.
Another potential stumbling block to any deal could be Maurizio Sarri’s instructions to club officials to refrain from selling the first-team members this summer.
Chiriches however is thought to be unhappy with his team status and is keen on a charge of scenery afte…
Lionel Messi was reportedly absent from Barcelona s pre-season testing on Sunday as the forward continues to try to engineer a move away from the club.
First-team players were due to attend coronavirus testing ahead of a return to training from Monday as preparations for the 2020-21 season get underway.
Messi, who handed in a transfer request via burofax on Tuesday, is said to have no desire to begin pre-season preparations and, according to widespread reports, did not attend.
The 33-year-old reportedly wants to meet with the Barca board in person in order to arrange a transfer away from Camp Nou in as amicable a fashion as possible.
Messi, for his part, is said to think the clause in his contract that allows him to leave for nothing at the end of each…
Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed three players have tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of their return to Ligue 1 action next week.
The 2019-20 Champions League finalists are due to begin their domestic title defence at Lens on September 10, with that fixture pushed back at PSG s request.
However, a trio of players have contracted coronavirus ahead of that match, which will likely be postponed should a fourth positive test be returned.
A PSG statement on Wednesday read: Three PSG players are confirmed positive after a Sars CoV2 test and have undergone the appropriate health protocols.
Three players are confirmed positive after a Sars CoV2 test and have undergone the appropriate health protocols.
All players and staff will continue to be t…
Manchester City have offloaded out-of-favour striker Emmanuel Adebayor in a loan deal with La Liga giants Real Madrid.
Adebayor, 26, will join Real for the remainder of the season, with an option for a 14.5 million pound transfer in the close season.
We can confirm that the club has agreed to loan Emmanuel Adebayor to Real Madrid for the rest of the season, a statement on City s website said.
The player will travel to Spain on Wednesday to have a medical. Madrid have an option to purchase the 26-year-old at the end of his temporary spell in the Spanish capital.
City s reluctance to contribute to the player s wages are understood to have delayed his departure.
But with Gonzalo Higuain ruled out for up to three months, Real s desperate need for…
Aston Villa s French midfielder Robert Pires is hopeful of extending his stay at the Midlands club beyond this season.
Pires linked up with manager Gerard Houllier at Villa in November on an initial six-month deal as his compatriot looked to add experience to his relegation-threatened squad.
The 37-year-old s arrival has coincided with an upturn in form for the Villans, who now just sit a point and goal difference out of the top-half of the Premier League table, and Pires hopes he can continue to make an impact next season.
For me, every morning I need to practice my football, Pires said.
I hope to play games and I hope to play next season. Why not? I would like to stay at Villa for another season. I really love this club.
I love the players …
Leicester City heads to Manchester United on Sunday (9 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Network) on the brink of securing a historic Premier League title, and Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri hopes his players get an American movie ending.
Having narrowly escaped relegation from the top flight last season by winning seven of its final nine outings, Leicester s dramatic turnaround continued into 2015-16 and has seen it set the pace at the top of the table.
Tottenham s failure to beat West Brom on Monday means Leicester, which is seven points clear and nine matches unbeaten, requires just three points from their three remaining games in order to be crowned champions.
The first opportunity to secure a first-ever top-flight title comes when Ranieri s side travels to Old …