#SSU #SPORTSUPDATE Manchester United dominated Europes transfer activity as the transfer deadline window slammed shut on Monday, manager Louis van Gaal taking his summer spending spree to more than £150 million. The former Netherlands coach, without a Premier League win this season and hammered 4-0 by third tier MK Dons in a League Cup match last week, signed versatile Ajax midfielder Daley Blind for £14 million. They also agreed a £6 million season-long loan deal with Monaco for Colombian striker Radamel Falcao. Last week, United broke the British transfer record in signing Angel Di Maria for £59.7 million from Real Madrid. Mondays activities ended Uniteds summer dealings which started in June with the £29 million capture of midfielder Ander Herrera from Athletic Bilbao. One player leaving United on Monday was Mexico striker Javier Hernandez who joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan after spending four years at the club, scoring 37 times in 102 Premier League appearances. ---------------- The tension mounted and temperatures soared at the U.S. Open on Monday as top seed Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray set up a sensational quarter-final, and Serena Williams made a 2014 grand slam breakthrough. Temperatures neared 90 degrees (32 C) in Flushing Meadows and hovered around 100 (38 C) on the hard courts in high humidity that tested players. The sweltering conditions nearly sent out promising Canadian Eugenie Bouchard as the 20-year-old seventh seed had ice applied to her arms and legs and had her blood pressure checked during her fourth-round match before she was eliminated 7-6(2) 6-4 by Ekaterina Makarova. World number one Djokovic beat the heat by charging past 22nd seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-1 7-5 6-4. Murray also made straight-sets work out of his clash against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, posting a 7-5 7-5 6-4 victory over the ninth-seeded Frenchman who had beaten him in the quarter-finals at the run-up tournament in Toronto. ----------- Roger Federer will get to break out his trademark all-black outfit again on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court at the U.S. Open on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Swiss, five times the champion in New York, takes on Spain’s 17th seed Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the quarter-finals, having won 24 of his 25 matches under the lights at Flushing Meadows. His only loss came against Tomas Berdych in the fourth round two years ago but Federer said Bautista Agut deserves his absolute respect. Two youngsters will be trying to join the old man in the last eight as seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov faces France’s Gael Monfils and unseeded Austrian Dominic Thiem takes on Berdych, while Croatia’s Marin Cilic meets Gilles Simon of France. --------------------- The five biggest transfers in France during the summer transfer window, which closed on Monday night. David Luiz Chelsea to Paris Saint-Germain; €49.5 million The Brazilian centre-back joined Paris Saint-Germain from Chelsea for a world record fee for a defender and is reunited with international teammate Thiago Silva at the heart of Laurent Blancs back four. The World Cup proved a traumatic experience for the 27-year-old and his compatriots as they were demolished 7-1 by Germany in the semifinals but Blanc tipped his new signing to banish those painful memories and forge a formidable partnership with Silva at the Parc des Princes. The ex-Benfica mans decision-making can prove suspect at times but Luiz is a strong character blessed with natural ability and with Silva alongside him to keep him in check, he should blossom in the French capital. Also has the versatility to play a more advanced role in front of the back four, if required. Serge Aurier Toulouse to Paris Saint-Germain; loan Aurier, 21, was the standout right-back in the French top flight a year ago with Toulouse and was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season for the 2013/14 campaign. He then performed admirably for the Ivory Coast in Brazil despite the Elephants premature exit from the World Cup before Paris Saint-Germain swooped in and snapped up Aurier on a season-long loan with an option to make the move permanent. Aurier, who spent much of his upbringing in the Paris outskirts, said the move was a childhood dream while PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi lauded the Ivorian as one of the most promising young players in world football. Aurier poses quite the attacking threat, too, as his six goals and six assists made him Europes most prolific defender last season. Must compete with Gregory van der Wiel for a starting berth, however. Jordan Ayew Marseille to Lorient; undisclosed Ayew, 22, penned a four-year contract at Lorient after struggling for first-team opportunities at Marseille. The Ghanaian striker impressed during the the second half of last season on loan at strugglers Sochaux where he netted five goals in 17 appearances, arguably his best run in the French top flight, but was unable to prevent the club from suffering relegation to the second tier. Ayew is charged with the task of replacing Jeremie Aliadiere, who moved to Qatar, and Cameroon international Vincent Aboubakar, sold to FC Porto after scoring 16 Ligue 1 goals last season. Scored his first goal for the club in the weekend win against Guingamp. Michy Batshuayi Standard Liege to Marseille; €7 million The highly-rated Batshuayi signed a five-year contract with Marseille after setting the Belgian Pro League alight with Standard Liege last season, scoring 21 goals. The 20-year-old of Congolese origin, a reported target of boyhood club Arsenal before pledging his future to Marseille, linked up with new OM boss Marcelo Bielsa as the Argentine looks to lead the nine-time French champions back into contention for silverware. Batshuayi, a regular at Under-21 level for Belgium, was called up to Marc Wilmots provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup, and although he failed to make the final cut, Batshuayi very much remains one for the future. Has made all his appearances so far for Marseille from the bench, with Andre-Pierre Gignac in front of him in the queue. Romain Alessandrini Rennes to Marseille; €5 million Former Marseille academy product Alessandrini finally got his wish as he returned to the Velodrome, a year after almost joining his hometown club. A year ago, Rennes were reluctant to let him leave after the Brittany club helped nurse him back from a cruciate knee ligament injury suffered during the 2012/13 campaign. Alessandrini, 25, scored 10 goals and laid on five assists and was called up to the France squad during his injury-truncated debut season in Ligue 1. And while he struggled to hit quite the same heights last campaign, a return of six goals and five assists was still enough to convince OM to prise him away from Rennes on a four-year deal. ------------- The five biggest transfers in Germany during the summer transfer window, which closed on Monday night: Robert Lewandowski Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich; free transfer It was announced back in January that Polish striker Lewandowski would be moving to Bayern in the summer on a five-year deal under freedom of contract. The 26-year-old followed the path trodden last summer by Mario Goetze in joining Bayern from their biggest rivals. Lewandowski scored 74 Bundesliga goals in four years with Dortmund and was the divisions leading scorer last season with 20. He is therefore expected to be an improvement on Mario Mandzukic, sold to Atletico Madrid, and he got his first goal for his new club in Saturdays 1-1 draw away to Schalke. Ciro Immobile Torino (ITA) to Borussia Dortmund; €19.4million To replace Lewandowski, Dortmund splashed the cash to recruit Colombia striker Adrian Ramos from Hertha Berlin but the more intriguing deal was that which saw 24-year-old Italy striker Immobile, the leading scorer in Serie A last season for Torino with 22 goals, arrive in the Ruhr. Immobile, previously with Juventus and Genoa, signed a five-year contract with Dortmund. He featured in two of Italys games at the World Cup but was largely ineffectual. Josip Drmic Nuremberg to Bayer Leverkusen; undisclosed fee Leverkusen moved to strengthen their front line with the signing of highly promising 22-year-old Swiss international striker Drmic. Formerly of FC Zurich, Drmic sprang to prominence with 17 goals in a Nuremberg side that were relegated last season. He put pen to paper on a four-year deal before featuring in all of Switzerlands games as they reached the last 16 at the World Cup. Mehdi Benatia Roma to Bayern Munich; €30 million Moroccan international defender Benatia, 27, signed on a five-year deal from Serie A side Roma to help Bayern plug the gap left by the loss of Javi Martinez to a serious knee injury. Benatia was born in France but only played in the lower leagues there before making a name for himself in Italy with Udinese. He then joined Roma last year and helped the capital club finish second to qualify for the Champions League. Xabi Alonso Real Madrid to Bayern Munich; €10 million Alonso, 32, joined Bayern from European champions Real Madrid last week in what he described as the most complicated decision of his career. A member of the Spanish side that won the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012, Alonso had joined Real from Liverpool in 2009. He announced his retirement from international football last Wednesday, one of many Spanish stars to stand down after the countrys World Cup debacle. The recent purchase of German midfielder Toni Kroos had also complicated his future with Real, and so he eventually agreed to move in the opposite direction. Alonso now teams up with Pep Guardiola and the burgeoning Spanish contingent at the Allianz Arena. He made his debut in Saturdays 1-1 draw at Schalke. -------------- African football giants Ivory Coast will be expelled from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations if they do not host Ebola-hit Sierra Leone in their qualifier on Saturday, the African Football Confederation (CAF) told AFP on Monday. The Ivory Coast government had said it was refusing to allow the game to be played in Abidjan but the countrys federation had not announced a country ready to host it instead. CAF regulation which applies here states that: If, for any reason whatsoever, a team withdraws from the competition or does not report for a match, except in cases of force majeure accepted by the Organising Commission or refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee, it shall be considered the loser and shall be eliminated for good from the current competition, CAFs head of media Junior Binyam told AFP by email. The devastating Ebola outbreak has killed more than 1 500 people. Many African governments have sought to isolate Sierra Leone, – where 422 people have died from the illness – Guinea and Liberia, the worst hit countries, throwing into doubt a number of sporting fixtures including the Leone Stars Group D game against Ivory Coast. The Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) told AFP it was planning to go ahead with the fixture in Abidjan with a 20-man squad consisting entirely of players based abroad. Sierra Leone were due to travel to the neutral territory of Ghanas capital, Accra, to play Democratic Republic of Congo on September 10. The venue has been rearranged, however, and will now go ahead in DR Congos second city, Lumumbashi, the SLFA said.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 06:28:41 +0000