Football transfer news

Lucio has agreed a two-year deal with Brazilian top-flight club Sao Paulo, a day after Juventus terminated the contract of the veteran defender.

The 34-year-old will be presented to the clubs’ fans at 12pm on Wednesday at the Morumbi Stadium, as the former Brazil international looks to get a new chapter of his career underway.

“A player with this quality and profile will certainly further qualify our squad to compete in the major international competitions we will have next season,” vice-president Joao Paulo de Jesus Lopes told the club’s official website.

Much is expected of the former Inter defender, who comes with an international reputation and a catalogue of silverware behind him.

The former Brazil captain has not only a World Cup win to his name, but also picked up 15 trophies in his 12-year stint in Europe, where he featured for Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, Inter and latterly Juventus.

“Lucio is an old dream for Sao Paulo. We came very close to signing him in July, but in the end it wasn’t possible,” explained club director of football Adalberto Baptista.

“Hopefully this time everything has gone well and he gets to add a lot of quality, experience and leadership to our squad,” he said.

Monaco coach Claudio Ranieri has talked up David Beckham’s qualities after the 37-year-old was linked with a move to the cash-rich Ligue 2 club.

The former England captain recently announced his intention to leave MLS side LA Galaxy and is known to be on the radar of several European clubs.

But Ranieri believes the veteran midfielder’s passion for the game would be best used in helping Monaco’s young players develop.

“You can consider it as unreal as my presence in Monaco,” Ranieri told Le Parisien. “He keeps a passion for football, that’s what interests me.”

“It would be helpful in all aspects of the development of the club. He could share his passion with our young players, at 37 years old, he continues to improve and be professional. All young players need an experienced coach but also references in the locker room.”

Beckham has previously denied holding any talks with the wealthy French side, who are owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev.

Brazil midfielder Paulinho has reiterated his desire to stay at Corinthians despite interest from a number of European clubs.

The 24-year-old played a starring role in his side’s Club World Cup win in Japan and revealed that he is staying with the Brazilian outfit despite Inter speaking to the South American club about his signature.

“I’m staying with Corinthians,” he told Esporte iG.

“There was a lot of speculation that I could be leaving and there were indeed some talks, but I wasn’t aware of anything concrete, except from Inter.”

After beating Chelsea in Tokyo on Sunday, the former FC Vilnius man admitted he has got a taste for success and wants to carry on picking up silverware.

“The more titles you win, the more you want to win. That’s what everyone says, and I say that too.“

Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen is hoping Theo Walcott will end speculation over his future by signing a new deal to remain at the Emirates Stadium.

Walcott’s current contract expires next summer and the England international has been linked with a move to Premier League rivals including Chelsea and Manchester United.

And, while Vermaelen remains hopeful his team-mate will stay put, he has stressed the team’s other players are in the dark over any on-going discussion.

“Of course we want him to stay but that is something that is going on between the player and the club,” Vermaelen told reporters.

“I don’t know what is going on behind the scenes — we don’t talk about it. Of course, Theo has been invaluable for us when he played this year. He is dangerous for us and I hope he could stay this year.

“[We don’t talk about it] because that is going on in football all the time. It happened last time with Robin [van Persie] in the summer. It’s the job of the board and the club what they are going to do with it so we can’t do anything about it.

“We know his qualities — he is quick and goes in behind defenders all the time — and I think we could find him yesterday and it helped us score a few goals.”

The Gunners put their shock Capital One Cup exit at the hands of Bradford City behind them by beating Reading 5-2 on Monday, and the former Ajax player was delighted with his side’s reaction.

He added: “The team were disappointed because, of course, you want to win [against Bradford] but the thing is we were focused straight away again and we know in England we have so many games that we can make it up again straight away,” he said.

“You can’t stand still too long with a defeat like that — you just learn from it and move on.

“We had a lot to prove. A lot of people questioned us, and maybe that’s normal, but we wanted to perform yesterday and we think we did that.”

EXCLUSIVE
By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Raheem Sterling is close to signing a new five-year Liverpool contract early in the new year, Goal.com understands.

The Merseyside club are nearing an agreement with the 18-year-old on a heavily incentivised deal, which is expected to start at a basic £30,000-a-week with staggered pay rises every year.

Negotiations have centred on the top-up bonuses for appearances, goals and Champions League qualification but both parties are confident that Sterling will shortly put pen to paper.

Manchester United have been among the clubs keen to take advantage of the teenager’s contract stand-off should the situation not be resolved.

However, recent negotiations between Liverpool and Sterling’s camp have been fruitful, which should result in the player, whose current deal expires in 18 months, committing to the club up until 2018.

The youngster’s representatives had been irritated by manager Brendan Rodgers’ comment that the winger would be “very foolish” not to agree fresh terms with a club whom he joined from QPR at 14 and where he has been fast-tracked into the first team.

Rodgers has made no attempt to hide his belief that Sterling’s career needs to be carefully managed to maintain his hunger and keep his feet on the ground.

“You see young players who are multi-millionaires,” said the Reds boss. “No matter what you say, it takes the edge off them.”

Nevertheless, the newly capped England international has been a fundamental figure in Rodgers’ team this season, starting 16 of the club’s 17 league matches and playing 1,411 minutes.

Speaking in the wake of Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa last weekend, the manager admitted that Sterling and newcomer Joe Allen both needed a rest to recapture top form.

“There is no doubt Raheem is one who does need that breather,” Rodgers observed. “I’ve thought about it over the past couple of weeks. In order to do that you need to have that depth to take him out and put somebody else in.”