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Hans Nunoo Sarpei set to complete loan move to Venlo Ghanaian international Hans Nunoo Sarpei is inching closer to signing a season long loan deal with Dutch side Venlo after VfB Stuttgart left him out of their preseason camping. Sarpei, 18, has already been training with the Dutch side for some weeks now but reports from the camp of his German owners appear to have affirmed the deal for the young player. Sarpei, has been training with the Dutch Eredivisie side after helping VfB Stuttgart to gain promotion to the German Bundesliga. The 18-year-old featured in the side's 1-0 pre-season friendly defeat to PAOK Salonika last week. The former Liberty Professionals attacking midfielder played a bit part role in Stuttgart promotion to the top flight league after battling to overcome a meniscus injury.

I HAVE NOT BEEN DEMOTED-BASIGI Former Black Queens coach Yusif Basigi says he does not see his reassignment to manage the female Under-20 team, the Black Princesses as a demotion . Basigi handled the Black Queens for five years and won the team’s first gold medal at the 2016 All Africa Games in Brazzaville. Many see this new role as a demotion but he insists he does not feel so. “It’s not a demotion at all because those who were there were senior men. “Adotey, Bashir Hayford, Didi Dramani are all my senior colleagues and so I think that it’s not a demotion,” the ex-Sekondi Hasaacas boss told Starr Sports.

MALDINI HAILS BONUCCI Paolo Cesare Maldini has hailed Milan’s new boy Leonardo Bonucci. “He’s certainly an excellent buy.” The Milan legend also gave his opinions on Juventus and Roma, as well as whether Milan had what it took to already mount a title challenge in Serie A. “I don’t know what has happened,” explained the legendary stopper. “It’s certainly difficult to find [good] centre-backs and Bonucci’s one of the best. Bonucci’s certainly an excellent buy. “It seems a bit early for them to go for the Scudetto, but they’ll fight for a place in the Champions League. “Juve? First of all, we have to say the transfer window is still open and that we have to wait until it’s closed before we can pass judgment on any team. “But Juve’s strength is their group, which has been in place for several years now. “Roma? They’ve had a change of Coach and they lack a few players, but the market remains open for them. “It’ll be a challenge for them to improve on last s

VAN DIJK MISSING FROM SAINTS TRAINING  Virgil van Dijk has not been included in Southampton's squad for a training camp in France as uncertainty over his future continues. The 26-year-old has been training on his own after telling Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino that he wants to leave Liverpool tried to sign Van Dijk earlier this summer but dropped their interest after Saints reported them to the Premier League over an alleged illegal approach. Despite the speculations, Pellegrino insist that Van Dijk is not for sale. "He is not involved with the team because psychologically he is not 100 per cent,"

GIAN PIERO: ATLANTA WON'T SING AGAIN Atlanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini insists Atalanta will not be making any more signings after ruling out a return for Marten De Roon. Atlanta has already sign 12 players and Gasperini made it clear he is happy with the 12 players that his club had already brought in for next season. “De Roon? Numerically we’re fine, there’ll be some exits instead,” he said after the Dea’s 3-1 friendly win against Giana. The Dutchman only joined Middlesbrough from Atalanta last summer but could not prevent the side from dropping out of the Premier League.

MINISTRY TO PAY BLACK QUEENS The Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Hon. Pius Hadzide has hinted that very soon players and technical staff of Ghana’s senior female national team the Black Queens will be handed their outstanding bonuses. He also revealed that all the other female national teams will also be settled their outstanding bonuses and allowances. The Black Queens are owed $12k by the state following accumulation of their allowances and bonuses, including bonus for the 2016 Women’s AFCON. The Queens were owed $25k by the state but the former Sports Minister Hon. Nii Lante Vanderpuye paid $13k after the entire playing body of the team demonstrated publicly in an embarrassing turn of events. Hon. Nii Lante then paid part of the money for the players with $12k out of that amount with the remaining left unpaid. “Yes some amount of monies was paid out of the $25k to the Black Queens and there are still some outstanding bonuses to pay. We are making strenuous efforts

BURSASPOR IN FOR WARIS Bursaspor are close to reaching an agreement with  Lorient to sign Ghanaian striker Abdul Majeed Waris  according to news papers in France. Lorient have been relegated from the League 1 and will have to sell their priced assets to meet their financial demands. They have already seen the exit of Benjamin Moukandjo and now are content with selling Abdul Majeed Waris who was their lead forwards. The deal could be struck by the end of this week with reports claiming that a personal agreement between Bursaspor and player has been reached. Waris will be returning back to the Turkish league after a failed stint with Trabzonspor in the 2014/2015 season. He will be hoping that he gets it right at the second time of asking .

ALLEGRI INVITES MATTIA TO US TOUR  De Sciglio has been called up by Allegri for Juventus' tour in USA. Only the Official Announcement is missing to formalize the transfer. De Sciglio arrived at Milan-Malpensa airport Tuesday evening  and arrived in Turin to complete his long awaited move to Juventus Football Club S.P.A Mattia completed his medicals yesterday and has been invited to join the rest of Juve squad in the United State of America De Sciglio will be hopping to meet Max Allegri for the first time after the emergence of his move from Milan to Juventus.

BLIND - LUKAKU IS A GREAT SIGNING Daley Blind believes Romelu Menama Lukaku will be a success at Man Utd and will be able to absorb all pressure from the fans and management of the club. Daley Blind has also express his excitement of playing alongside Lukaku as a team mate Daley Blind: "Lukaku is a great signing, a great player and a great person as well, now that I have met him for a while.

Arsenal will play Bayern Munich today in Chiana at the Shanghai Stadium. Arsenal fans will be hoping to see their side revenge the 10:2 score line in the 2016/2017 season in the Champions league Arsenge Wenger will file a strong side to face the Baverians (Die Bayern) to keep their wining streak in the preseason FULL STARTING ELEVEN Petr Čech Krystian Bielik   Per Mertesacker ,  Ignacio "Nacho" Monreal Eraso   Ainsley Cory Maitland-Niles Francis Coquelin Granit Xhaka   , Kolasinac,   Mesut Özil   Danny Welbeck Alexandre Lacazette

BROWN READY FOR BARCA ENCOUNTER Wesly Micheal Brown was back at his old school in Burnage to train with some lucky youngsters ahead of appearing for Manchester United's Legends in the big game with Barcelona on 2 September at Old Trafford. Brown excelled as part of a three-man defence at the Nou Camp and helped the Reds ease to a 3-1 victory, despite the home side containing the attacking talent of Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. Ronaldinho, in particular, was a box of tricks throughout and proved a tricky customer to handle. Speaking during the session with a decent split of boys in United and Barca shirts, the ex-Reds defender is clearly relishing the chance to take on the Catalan giants again in the charity fixture. "I’ve not been back here for many years," he told MUTV at the Burnage Academy for Boys. "The school's changed a lot, to be fair, they’ve got some great pitches now for the boys to play on and it’s just good to be back really. &

DE SCIGLO ARRIVE FOR MEDICALS Mattia De Sciglio has arrive in Turin to complete his long awaited move to Juventus Football Club S.P.A De Sciglio arrived at Milan-Malpensa airport yesterday evening, having left the Rossoneri's pre-season tour to complete his move to Juventus Fans of Juve expects Mattia to officially become their player at the end of the day. De Sciglio made only 27 appearance for Milan last season with an ankle injury disrupting his first two month of 2017 and a thigh problem rulling him out of the final game of the season against Bologna

SERGIO WILL STAY - KHALDOON AL MUBARAK Chelsea have been strongly link as favorites to land the Argentine in a surprise transfer.The 29-year-old striker with 122 Premier League goals to his name and a better strike rate than anyone else in the competition's so-called 100 club. If the champions could pair the Argentine with Eden Hazard, it would be a daunting prospect. But while Chelsea's willingness to take Aguero to Stamford Bridge is no shock, the ongoing speculation regarding a possible Manchester City exit is the real curiosity here. The player is an icon at the Etihad Stadium, the scorer of the greatest goal in City's history and perhaps the club's greatest ever goalscorer too. City owner Khaldoon Al Mubarak insisted reports of a summer exit were "ridiculous" and Pep Guardiola has repeatedly stressed that Aguero will stay. "He will be here next season," he said in May. "Happy? Good. Perfect. How many times have I answered that questi

LUCAS: LAZIO IS A BIG CLUB  Lucas Pezziri Leiva believes he has joined “a great club” in Lazio, but former Liverpool teammate John Arne Riise disagrees. Lucas completed a transfer to Lazio on Tuesday after 10 years at Liverpool and wasted no time in getting started as he began training with his new teammates at their training camp in Auronzo di Cadore. “I’m ready and very excited for this new challenge,” the midfielder [pictured, right] told Premium Sport. “I chose Lazio because they’re a great club, with a good reputation and fantastic fans.” However, Riise – who played with Lucas at Anfield during the 2007-08 campaign – felt the Brazilian  “picked the wrong club in Rome”, given his past association with Roma. “Good luck @LucasLeiva87, can't wait to follow you in Italy,” he tweeted. “Shame you picked the wrong club in Rome though! Forza @OfficialASRoma.”

DE SCIGLIO- I'M YET TO MEET MAX Milan’s Mattia De Sciglio has landed back in Italy to complete a transfer to Juventus but insists he has yet to hear from Massiimiliano  Allegri. De Sciglio touched down at Milan-Malpensa airport on Tuesday evening, having left the Rossoneri’s preseason tour of China to formalise his impending switch to the  Bianconeri of Italian football. “I’m fine, I had a long journey so I’m a bit tired,” he told Calciomercato.com. “Happy to reunite with Allegri? It’s not the right time to answer that. “More sorry or relieved? There’ll be time to talk, but now I have to go. Have I heard from Allegri? No, no.” La Vecchia Signora  are understood to have agreed a €12m fee with Milan for the wing back, whose contract expires next summer. 

WOW! BANCE JOINS HIS 20TH CLUB SIDE Burkina Faso forward, Aristide Bance, has officially joined his 20th club side over the weekend when he transferred from Ivorian side  ASEC  Mimosas to Egypt’s Al Masry as a free agent. He joined on a 2-year deal the Egyptian side confirmed. The 32-year-old has now played in thirteen different countries across Africa, Europe and Asia. His African exploits have seen him play in his native Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, South Africa and now Egypt. He has also played in Germany, Turkey, Finland, Belgium, Latvia and Ukraine on his European stints. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan complete his Asian adventure. He has so far played sixty-seven games for the Stallions of Burkina Faso and has scored 21 goals over the period. He was born in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan. He started his club career with Stade d’Abidjan in 2000. His first stint outside the continent was with Belgian side, Sporting Lokeren, where he spent three seasons playin

SHOCKING! CASSANO RETURNS TO FOOTBALL The enigmatic Italian, who is widely known for his controversial views and personality, signed for newly-promoted Serie A club,Hellas Verona  last week, and has already featured in two friendlies for the club. The hope was he could forge a formidable partnership up top with fellow compatriot, and former Sampdoria team-mate, Giampaolo Pazzini, but it looked like it was not going to work out.  Antonio Cassano announced his retirement from football just eight days after signing with Verona. The 35-year-old, who has 39 Italy caps to his name, reportedly decided to pack his career in as he told the club he is homesick and is missing his family too much to keep on playing. But now, just a few hours later, he's had a complete U-turn and has decided to continue playing  for the club. He told a press conference on Tuesday afternoon: “I will continue at this club, it was only a moment of weakness. “I will win this bet, I have made

PERISIC INCLUDED IN INTER SQUARD Ivan Perisic has been included in the Inter squad for their pre-season tour in China, despite Manchester United interest. The winger is keen to join Manchester United in the 2017/18 season  but so far the Red Devils are yet to meet the €55m asking price by Inter Milan. Perisic had hoped to conclude a deal before the trip to China and Singapore, but he will fly out with the rest of the Nerazzurri squad today. Davide Santon has been left in Milan, however, after scans showed damage to “the muscle-tendon join near the medial gastrocnemius in his right leg”. Inter squad for pre-season Asian tour: Berni, Handanovic, Padelli, Pissardo, Ansaldi, D’Ambrosio, Miranda, Murillo, Nagatomo, Ranocchia, Skriniar, Vanheusden, Valietti, Borja Valero, Brozovic, Emmers, Gagliardini, Joao Mario, Kondogbia, Rivas, Gabriel Barbosa, Biabiany, Candreva, Eder, Icardi, Jovetic, Perisic, Pinamonti

CORRUPTION  IN SPANISH FOOTBALL Spanish FA president Angel Maria Villar  Llona and his son,a former CONMEBOL executive Gorka Villar, and a third man have been arrested by the Spanish Police as part of an anti-corruption investigation. Angel Maria has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds, El Pais and Efe news agency reported. Mr Villar, a former Athletic Madrid midfielder and   Spain international footballer, has been president of the association since 1988. His son Gorka Villar a former   CONMEBOL executive  was among a number of other people also arrested on Tuesday.