Leicester City have completed the signing of Austria international full-back Christian Fuchs, .
The 29 year old was a free agent after leaving Bundesliga side Schalke 04, for whom he made almost a hundred appearances in four years.
Internationally Fuchs, who has previously been a target for Swansea City, has been capped sixty-six times for his country, with his one and only goal coming in a 2-1 friendly defeat to Greece in November 2011.
His arrival at the King Power Stadium could pave the way for Jeffrey Schlupp to move on, with both Swansea and FA Cup winners Arsenal eyeing a move to secure his services.
Bar a brief loan spell with Brentford in 2011, Schlupp has spent his entire career with Leicester and was part of the squad that won promotion to …
Ecuador coach Gustavo Alfaro says the absent Byron Castillo will be with us in an emotional sense after a controversial nationality dispute led to the defender not going to the World Cup.
Castillo was the subject of a complaint made by Chile in May, with the Chilean Football Federation alleging he was born in Colombia rather than Ecuador.
The case initially put Ecuador s World Cup qualification in doubt until the FIFA investigation was closed in June, and FIFA s Appeal Committee confirmed no further action was being taken three months later.
Chile appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), who acknowledged Castillo s birthplace as being in Colombia, but the claim was dismissed on the basis of Ecuador legally recognising the player as Ecuadorian.
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Pedro is confident Spain can contain Portgual captain Cristiano Ronaldo when they meet in their Euro 2012 semi-final on Wednesday.
The Real Madrid man has been in excellent form in his last two games, scoring three goals against Netherlands and Czech Republic, firing his side into the final four of the competition in the process.
Despite Ronaldo s scintillating play in the tournament, Barcelona star Pedro believes he and his international team-mates will be able to stop him in his tracks.
Cristiano is a fantastic player who s in a great form and that must be taken into account. But I think we know how to neutralise him, so let s wait and see what happens, we are very confident but it will be difficult, he said.
The 24-year-old believes Vicente del Bosqu…
Big spending Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande have signed midfielder Huang Bowen from Jeonbuk Motors.
The 24-year-old China international midfielder will join the Chinese Super League (CSL) leaders pending a medical, as they continue to bolster their squad ahead of their 2012 AFC Champions League quarter-final.
Huang, who left Beijing Guoan for Jeonbuk in early 2011, follows Lucas Barrios and Kim Young-Gwon as mid-season signings for Guangzhou.
Evergrande will take on Saudi Arabian giants Al Ittihad in their final-eight clash in the Champions League, which get underway in mid-September.
Huang, who won the 2008 Chinese Football Association Young Player of the Year, will wear shirt number 42.
Meanwhile, 2011 CSL MVP Muriqui has penned a new f…
Chelsea F.C. defender Tomas Kalas has revealed he would be opening to returning to Middlesbrough next season if he continues to be surplus to requirements at Stamford Bridge.
The Czech Republic international, 21, tallied one assist in 17 league appearances for Middlesbrough in 2014/15, but played the final game of his loan spell against Norwich City on Friday evening.
I ve really enjoyed my time here and I really want to come back, Kalas told the Northern Echo. If I have that option [next season], I will take it.
I m glad I ve been able to come to Middlesbrough, and I want to say thank you to the coach, the staff and everyone involved in the club for making me feel at home. Hopefully, we will meet again next season.
I m still a Chelsea p…
Newcastle and Tottenham meet in the opening round of the English Premier League season for the first time since the league was formed.
A Tottenham side managed by Osvaldo Ardiles earned a narrow 1-0 victory in the inaugural round of the Premier League in 1993 and they have enjoyed bragging rights in recent times.
After a 2-1 loss at St James Park in 2008, the Spurs have gone on to win three out of the past five, including a 5-0 thumping last season courtesy of two goals from French striker Louis Saha, who is no longer at the club.
However, fast forward to August 18 at St James Park and a lot has changed at both clubs.
Newcastle fended off interest from various European clubs to retain the services of Senegalese target man Demba Ba, while Alan Pardew sign…
Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet struck as France launched a second-half comeback to beat Sweden 2-1 in Friday s World Cup qualifier at the Stade de France.
Both sides shared top spot in Group A heading into the game with seven points from their opening three fixtures and although France dominated the opening 45 minutes, the visitors looked solid in defence.
A surprise seemed to be in store when Emil Forsberg opened the scoring early in the second period with a fine free kick, but Janne Andersson s men were unable to hold on.
Pogba levelled the scoring with a powerful header, before Payet sealed the win with a cool finish after some unconvincing goalkeeping from Robin Olsen.
France are now three points clear of Sweden and six ahead of third-placed Netherlan…
Serie A high-flyers Genoa are stepping up their efforts to sign Nantes defender Issa Cissokho, French media outlet .
The Rossoblu are not exactly spoilt for options at full-back positions and they have identified the French footballer as the man who can help address the issue.
Genoa recently had a bid rejected for the 30-year-old defender, but they are set to return with an improved offer.
Issa Cissokho needed quite a while to start proving his worth, having spent his early career in the lower echelons of France s league system.
The 2010 switch to Nantes helped the full-back make it to the big stage and he has since helped the Canaries gain promotion to Ligue 1 before going on to make 68 top flight appearances over the past two seasons.
While Ge…
Martin Schmidt has stepped down as head coach of relegation-threatened Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
An injury-time penalty from Robert Lewandowski gave Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday in what proved to be Schmidt s final game in charge.
Despite encouraging signs in that battling performance, the 2014-15 runners-up have only four league wins to their name all season.
They are now looking for their third head coach of the campaign, with former Mainz boss Schmidt having stepped in on the back of Andries Jonker s sacking last September.
Sad news today folks: Martin Schmidt has stepped down as VfL head coach
— VfL Wolfsburg US (@VfLWolfsburg_US)
Wolfsburg are 14th in the table, a point above third-bottom Mainz, who they f…
Newcastle United are keen to take Andy Carroll back to St James’ Park, .
The twenty-six year old was sold by Newcastle to Liverpool for £35m back in January 2011 – a then record for a British player.
In two and half years on the books of the Merseyside club, Carroll played just fifty-eight times scoring eleven goals.
He was sent out on loan to West Ham United for the 2012/13 campaign, signing for them on a permanent basis at the end of that season.
In total, he has played only sixty-three matches for the Hammers after continuously struggling with injury, scoring fifteen times.
He was by far at his most prolific during his time in the North East, while
internationally he has been capped nine times for England, scoring twice.
Ho…