Schalke 04: El Hombre de Oro

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PSG WIN TELLO RACE

Paris Saint-Germain has beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Juventus to the signing of Cristian Tello from Barcelona for £12 million.

The Spanish giants had accepted two offers of approximately £9 million from Liverpool and Arsenal but PSG now sign the Spaniard after activating his release clause.

Tello joins Barcelona boss Diego Maradona’s former club in a time where Martin Montoya’s move back to the Catalan giants continues to be heavily speculated.

The 22-year-old had a less than impressive season for Barcelona following Tata Martino’s preference to play Neymar, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro Rodriguez ahead of him.

The left winger played a total of 18 times in La Liga last season, scoring just once, a tally doubled when representing the Spanish national team early last season.

Tello will now sign a five year deal with the UEFA Champions’ League holders and is expected to be the key man out on the left flank for the upcoming season, with new manager Andre Villas-Boas contemplating whether to sell Ezequiel Lavezzi to Napoli.

SONG JOINS OLD RIVAL

Alex Song has joined former rivals Tottenham Hotspur from Barcelona for a fee of £13.25 million after being transfer listed.

The ex-Arsenal midfielder joined Barcelona back in 2012 for £15.5 million but now returns to North London, albeit to the opposite end.

Spurs, who had previously sold Hugo Lloris to Barcelona for £17 million, agreed terms with the Cameroonian international promptly after Song inked a five year deal.

Song will be the most likely candidate to fill in the shoes left by Etienne Capoue after the Frenchman joined Valencia for £5 million this summer.

The former Gunners man may have a very important part to play in the heart of Spurs’ midfield as Liverpool line up a serious bid for fan favourite Sandro and manager Luciano Spalletti released the promising Nabil Bentaleb.

Song will now join his old team mate Emmanuel Adebayor at White Hart Lane and will be given the number 25 shirt, formerly worn by Lloris.

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ZIELER JOINS BARCELONA

Barcelona has completed the signing of Hannover 96 goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler for a fee of £5.25 million.

The 25-year-old is believed to have been signed as back-up for new signing Hugo Lloris following the departures of Jose Manuel Pinto and Oier Olazabal.

However, the German insists he’s come to Barcelona with hope of breaking into the first team and hopes the tag of ‘back-up’ won’t define his career with the Catalan club.

”It’s great to sign for Barcelona so I want to make this opportunity worthwhile and show everyone what I can do here.

“I know Lloris is a world class goalkeeper and I will be expecting to deputise when he’s not around but I’m not going to accept that role just like that.

“I’m here to play for Barcelona so I will push myself and show the coach what I can do. Hopefully at some stage, I will be number one.

“I’ve not had a friendly rivalry like this before amongst a teammate so I’m looking forward to it and hopefully, with time, I can break into the first team.”

The ex-Manchester United goalkeeper signed a three year deal with Barcelona after appearing 109 times for Hannover in the Bundesliga.

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MATIC SIGNS FOR BARCA

Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic has signed for Barcelona for £7.5 million after passing his medical late last night.

Matic will fill the void left by Alex Song and Javier Mascherano by signing a four year deal on £75,000 a week.

The Serbian ball winning midfielder never managed to break into the Chelsea squad after suffering a ligament injury soon after his move from Benfica for £24 million.

Barcelona manager Diego Maradona, however, has all the confidence that Matic can contribute heavily to a successful season in Spain.

“I think Matic was extremely unlucky in England with injuries and unfortunately for him, Chelsea wasn’t patient.

“I still maintain the ideology that he is a fantastic player and have all the belief that he will prove that here with Barcelona.

“Other than Sergio Busquets, we don’t have an outright ball winner in the middle so the arrival of Matic will add to our depth.

“What attracted me most was Matic’s capability to pass the ball as well as to recover it and it’s a quality I feel will serve him well during his time with us.”

Matic’s most successful time as a footballer came during his two seasons at Benfica from 2011 to 2013, playing 42 times for the Lisbon outfit.