Manchester United to launch new €54m Vidal bid

The Red Devils are confident of making progress in their pursuit of the Juventus star this week, with Louis van Gaal having given the green light to a move for the Chilean

EXCLUSIVE
By Paul Clennam

Manchester United are ready to launch a new €54 million bid for Juventus midfielder Arturo Vidal this week.

The Old Trafford club are increasingly confident of landing the Chilean World Cup star and are looking to make progress in their move for the 27-year-old in the coming days.

Louis van Gaal, who officially took charge at United on Wednesday, is a big fan of Vidal, having tried to sign him while in charge of Bayern Munich in 2011, and has approved a move for the midfielder.

VIEW FROM ITALY

By Federico Casotti | Chief Editor, Goal Italy "In Italy, there's the feeling that Vidal may be the marquee player to leave Juventus during this transfer window. "After the shock of Conte's departure, Juventus have pushed ahead with a move for Argentinean Roberto Pereyra from Udinese, who could be seen as a reasonable replacement for Vidal in a starting XI that new coach Massimiliano Allegri will switch from 3-5-2 to 4-3-1-2."

The Dutchman encouraged the pursuit of Vidal earlier in July, despite the club being told that a move could cost them €56m plus Nani.

United have monitored the situation regarding Vidal closely during a turbulent summer at Juventus, which has seen Antonio Conte leave the Serie A champions amid talk of unhappiness regarding the club's transfer policy.

Juventus have signed forward Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid and are set to complete a move for Roberto Pereyra, while suggestions that Vidal could be sold grow louder in Italy.

Vidal, who is currently resting in Chile following the World Cup, has recently conceded that his future in Turin looks uncertain.

"I don't feel like my time at Juventus is over, although I can't say more right now," he told a Chilean radio station. "When I'm back from Chile, I'll talk to my executives and we'll see what will happen."

Juve director Pavel Nedved, meanwhile, says that the club are reluctant to sell both Vidal and Paul Pogba but admits that a big-money bid could force them to part ways with the Chilean.

"Our strategy is clear; we want to keep all our best players, including Vidal and Pogba," he told Tuttosport. "We don't want to sell anyone, especially Vidal.

"Certainly, if there were a high bid for them, we'd have to think about it but we don't want to sell our champions.

"We want to be competitive in the Champions League and the only sales to be players who are not part of our plans."

Publicly, United have aimed to manage expectations regarding signings but Vidal has emerged as their No.1 target and chief executive Ed Wooward has confirmed that the club are still in the market for players this summer.

"We've been working with Louis over several weeks with regards to targets and we're continuing to move forward on some of those targets," Woodward told MUTV.

He added: "We are willing to invest. There is no fixed budget. Financially we are extremely strong and funds are available. Louis is assessing what's going on and there is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, so watch this space."

Real Madrid reach €88m James Rodriguez agreement

The 23-year-old will finalise personal terms on Monday before being officially announced as the Champions League winners' second signing of the summer transfer window

By Duncan Castles

Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Monaco for the transfer of James Rodriguez.

In an overall deal that should see the Colombia international become the third most expensive footballer in the history of the game, Madrid will meet the French club's €88 million valuation - the same fee Barcelona paid for Luis Suarez - including performance-related variables.

With an agreement reached between the two clubs over the weekend, discussions have been scheduled for Monday to iron out the details of James's personal terms as Madrid aim to make the midfielder their second signing of the summer following the arrival of Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich.

An outline understanding on the 23-year-old's salary has been in place since Madrid president Florentino Perez decided to target the player as this summer's principle Galactico signing.


THE STAR OF THE WORLD CUP | James was arguably the best player at Brazil 2014
James - who pushed Monaco to allow him to leave the Ligue 1 club just a year after a big-money move from Porto - will join Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid's star-studded attack.

The arrival of the 23-year-old could spell the end for Isco at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Liverpool among the clubs monitoring the playmaker's situation with a view to a summer bid.

In addition to the acquisition of World Cup Golden Boot winner James, Madrid have been working on a deal to bring a second Colombia star, Radamel Falcao, from Monaco and reached a breakthrough in talks at the beginning of July.

Falcao's return to Spanish football after a season in Ligue 1 is dependent on Madrid's medical department declaring themselves satisfied with the striker's recovery from cruciate ligament surgery.

Sammer hints at more Bayern signings amid Reus rumours

The Bavarians are keen to further strengthen their squad this summer and have been linked with the Borussia Dortmund forward again in recent weeks

Bayern Munich sporting director Matthias Sammer has suggested that the reigning Bundesliga champions could make more summer signings amid reports that they are monitoring Borussia Dortmund attackerMarco Reus.

The Bavarians have already brought in Robert Lewandowski, Sebastian Rode and Juan Bernat this summer, but head coach Pep Guardiola is keen to add some more firepower to his attack and he is rumoured to have earmarked the 25-year-old Reus as the perfect signing.

Sammer stopped short of identifying any targets but admitted the Bundesliga champions would continue to look at the market in order to avoid any risk of star players becoming tired after their World Cup exploits.

"The transfer window will remain open for a few more weeks," Sammer was quoted as saying by TZ.

"We have to deal with this fact wisely. Maybe we won't do anything, but perhaps we will make some more signings...

"We already have a certain amount of players at our availability at the moment, but let's not forget that we did not win the Bundesliga title after the 2006 and 2010 World Cups."

Reus has a contract with Dortmund until the summer of 2017, but has a limited fee release clause believed to be at €35 million.

However, BVB will be desperate to hold on their star attacker after previously losing Mario Gotze and Lewandowski to their arch rivals.

The German champions have also been linked with a move for Colombia international Juan Cuadrado, currently under contract with Fiorentina.

Suarez, Alexis, Costa? Who has been your signing of the summer so far?

Goal casts an eye over the transfer activity so far in the current window - who do you think has been the shrewdest bit of business?

Clubs across the world are hard at work strengthening their squads as the new season draws ever closer, but which transfer has been the best of the summer so far?

As ever, the Premier League's finest have been in the thick of the action. Arsenal have shown their new-found willingness to spend over the last 12 months and made headlines by bringing Barcelona forwardAlexis Sanchez to the club alongside Newcastle's Mathieu Debuchy, who will replace Bacary Sagna at right-back.

Arsene Wenger turned down the chance to raid Barca for Cesc Fabregas, who joined Chelsea instead. Jose Mourinho also brought in two of Atletico Madrid's Liga winners - star striker Diego Costa and left-back Filipe Luis - as he looks to launch an assault on the Premier League title.

Liverpool narrowly missed out on the crown last term but signalled their intent to remain at the top end of the table by signing Southampton's England duo Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert alongside Bayer Leverkusen starlet Emre Can.

Their arch rivals Manchester United fared all together worse last season, finishing seventh, but have shown that they mean business under new coach Louis van Gaal by bringing Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera to the club.

Manchester City won the title last time out and have long dominated the transfer market but have had a decidedly more quiet summer this year, sealing a bosman deal for Sagna, completing a long-awaited move for Porto's Fernando and signing Willy Caballero to strengthen their goalkeeping options.

Real Madrid and Barcelona have long been locked in battle both on and off the pitch and have both been big spenders in recent years. This summer, Barca have brought in Ivan Rakitic, Claudio Bravo, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and, most notably, Luis Suarez as they look to wrestle back the Liga title.

In contrast, Madrid have been slightly quieter, only signing Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, but are expected to do more business in the coming months.

They were both beaten to the punch domestically by Atletico Madrid last term and Diego Simeone's most notable bit of business so far has been the acquisition of Mario Mandzukic to replace the outgoing Costa.

Mandzukic left Bayern Munich primarily because of the signing of Robert Lewandowski and the Pole is one of three arrivals at the Allianz Arena this summer, alongside Sebastian Rode and Juan Bernat.

Their main rivals for the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund, have also been busy, signing Ciro Immobileand Adrian Ramos to fill the Lewandowski void, while Matthias Ginter has also arrived to strengthen their defence.

Immobile was partially owned by Juventus, who have had a frustrating transfer market, but the signing of Alvaro Morata has lifted the spirits of the Turin side.

AC Milan, meanwhile, have brought in Jeremy Menez and Alex from Paris Saint-Germain as they look to regain a top-four place under Pippo Inzaghi next time out.

PSG themselves have also had a quiet summer by their big-spending standards, with their only major signing coming in the form of David Luiz from Chelsea.

Manchester United can win things under Van Gaal - Mata

The Spanish attacking midfielder is "really happy" with the chance to play for the respected Dutch manager and is hopeful to restore glory to the club this season

Manchester United star Juan Mata is optimistic that his side can win silverware this season under Louis van Gaal.

The Dutchman has been tasked with returning the Red Devils to glory after a seventh-placed Premier League finish in 2013-14 and brings with him title-winning experience from the Eredivisie, La Liga and the Bundesliga.

The 62-year-old also led Netherlands to third place at the World Cup this summer and Mata is excited to play his style of football.

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5/1	William Hill offer 5/1 for Manchester United to win their first four Premier League matches this season

"It's the start of a new era for the club, with a new manager and players coming in," the Spaniard toldMUTV.

"I'm really happy with the manager's style of football and hopefully at the end of the season we can celebrate something, which would be amazing for him and for us."

United are preparing for pre-season matches against LA Galaxy, Roma, Inter and Real Madrid in the United States and Mata is keen to prepare well for a big campaign.

"The most important thing is to get ready step by step and not too hard because injuries can happen," he added.

"It's important for us to prepare physically and mentally for the long season.

"We're focused on improving and trying to learn from the manager, to play at our best level during the season. The main idea is to play as a team and compete for titles

BMW driving Centre in South Korea

 A new $75.5 million track, the BMW Driving Centre in Incheon, South Korea, will offer the ultimate in driving tests. Visitors are able to try out the performance cars and motorcycles of BMW on a closed circuit racetrack of 2.6 kilometres, or even try out an SUV in the off—road area. Unlike the recent BMW racetrack we reported on, this one is definitely a reality.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

The site that is to house the centre is 240, 000 square meters and will be home to a huge BMW and Mini showroom, along with a service centre, restaurants and bars, training academy, children’s area and HISTORICAL exhibits.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

This has to be the ultimate way to test out a motorcycle or sports car. As most of BMW’s cars are designed and built to go way beyond normal speed limits, the closed racetrack is the perfect place to try out the full acceleration of any vehicle that you are considering purchasing.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

The driving centre is great when it comes to testing out the suspension of the sports cars, along with stability of them as they fly around the corners of the track. South Korea is one of the key developing markers for BMW and this is why the centre has been located very close to the largest international airport in the country, at Incheon. The state of the art facility allows potential customers of BMW to really push the cars to their limit.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

There is a 2.6 kilometre race track at the driving centre which can be altered and changed into six different configurations. Some of the vehicles visitors can take on a test drive have top speeds of as much as 300+ km/h, however this isn’t going to be an issue on the race track at the new driving centre. The track also allows would be owners of motorcycles to test out the bikes to their maximum, given that in Korea motorcycles cannot go on the freeways and as such are limited to a maximum of no MORE than 80km/h. The track offers the only way of would be owners to get the true feel of what the motorcycle can actually offer, something which could never be achieved when taking it out for a regular test drive.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

The off-road course has been specifically designed to offer a rugged test thanks to the skid pan area. This allows would be owners to test out 4WD along with stability control features in an environment that is controlled and safe. BMW are also considering offering educational courses associated with performance driving, safety on the roads and getting the maximum when it comes to fuel economy.

[Image Courtesy of BMW]

Visitors to the centre will also be able to take advantage of the close proximity to the airport courtesy of an airport service offered by the BMW driving centre. While the customer is away, they can even get their cars serviced by BMW. The BMW Driving Centre is set to open its doors on 1 August 2014.

[Images Courtesy of BMW]

Via [BMW]

The striker has signed a five-year deal with the Italian champions, though los Blancos retain a buyback option of up to €30m, and he says he is "itching" to begin Serie A life

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has completed his transfer to Juventus, who have signed the promising Spaniard for €20 million.

Morata arrived in Turin on Friday ahead of a medical with the Italian champions after weeks of speculation over a possible summer switch.

Juve have now confirmed the 21-year-old has agreed a five-year deal, and have also revealed that Madrid will retain a buy-back option in the player's contract which could rise to €30m.

"Juventus announce that it has reached an agreement with Real Madrid for the definitive purchase of the rights to the player Alvaro Borja Morata Martin for a fee of €20m, payable over three years," a statement on their official website read.

"The agreement also provides an option for Real Madrid, exercisable at the end of the 2015-16 season or 2016-17 season, for the outright repurchase of Morata, up to a maximum of €30m depending on the number of games the player has played for Juventus.

"Juventus have signed a five-year contract of employment with the same player."

Morata, who scored eight goals in 23 Liga appearances for Madrid last season, admitted in his press conference he has been itching to make the move for some time and is relishing the prospect of life under new boss Massimiliano Allegri.

"Juve are one of the best clubs in the world and Italy's finest. I'll try to contribute to new successes," he said.
 
"I've spoken to Allegri and I'm itching to get down to work. I've wanted to come to Juventus for a long time. The club's always shown a strong interest in me.

"I feel prepared for the new season ahead, I know it's a challenging league but I'm ready to tackle Serie A."

Morata becomes the second player involved in a transfer away from Madrid on the same day, with midfielder Casemiro's loan move to Porto also confirmed on Saturday