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Manchester City have completed the signing of Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea. The treble winners have announced the 29-year-old has signed a four-year contract at the Etihad Stadium after the clubs agreed an initial fee of £25million, with a potential extra £5million in add-ons, last week. Kovacic joins Pep Guardiola’s side after five years at Chelsea, where he won the Champions League and Europa League and made 221 appearances. To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer Mateo Kovacic He is City’s first signing of the summer and his arrival compensates for the departure of captain Ilkay Gundogan, who joined Barcelona on a free transfer on Monday after seven years at the club. Kovacic said: “This is a brilliant move for me and I cannot wait to get started with City. “Anyone who has watched this team under Pep knows how good they are. For me, they are the best in the world. “The trophies they have won are clear for all to see, but they are also the best footballing side out there. “To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I still have plenty of learning and developing to do, and I know under Pep’s management I can become a better player, which is really exciting for me. “My plan now is to rest for a few weeks before coming back to Manchester to prepare for the new season. I want to help this club stay at the top and win more trophies.” Kovacic is a four-time Champions League winner having also enjoyed success in Europe’s elite competition three times with Real Madrid before joining the Blues. A versatile player, he began his career with Dinamo Zagreb and has also had a spell at Inter Milan. He has earned 95 caps for his country and will inherit Gundogan’s number eight shirt. City director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “Mateo is an excellent footballer. “He can play as a ‘six’ or an ‘eight’, has plenty of experience at top-level clubs and he understands the Premier League. “It was a very simple decision to bring him to City because he has the tactical and technical qualities we are looking for in a midfielder. “He is someone we have monitored for a very long time and always we were impressed whenever we watched him. I am delighted he is here. “This is a great signing for this club, and I am very excited to watch what he can do with Pep and the rest of our backroom team.” Kovacic may not be Guardiola’s only midfield reinforcement this summer, with speculation that the champions have had a bid rejected for West Ham’s Declan Rice. The England international is widely expected to leave the London Stadium and has reportedly already been the subject of two failed approaches from Arsenal. It has been claimed City made an offer totalling £90million for the 24-year-old but the Hammers are said to be holding out for a fee of £100million. City have not commented on the reports. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Ben Stokes stands by England’s approach ahead of second Ashes Test Tottenham complete signing of Empoli goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario Josh Tongue: From retirement talk to Ashes chance, with the help of Botox jabs

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Tottenham have completed the signing of goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from Empoli. Spurs had been searching for a long-term successor for captain Hugo Lloris, who is approaching the final 12 months of his deal and made clear his desire for a new challenge earlier this month. While discussions took place with Brentford number one David Raya over a potential move across London, his £40million price tag saw Tottenham turn their attention elsewhere. Vicario had long been tracked by the club as a candidate for Lloris and he has now become new boss Ange Postecoglou’s second signing. The Italian, who has been called up to various national team camps, has signed a five-year deal at Tottenham in a move reported to be worth 19million euros (£16.4m). Vicario has starred for Empoli during the last two seasons, saving eight penalties in that period to develop a reputation as one of the most promising goalkeepers in Europe. The 26-year-old started out at Udinese before featuring in the Italian lower-leagues with Venezia, who he helped rise through the divisions up to Serie B. A move to Cagliari followed in 2019 but with chances hard to come by, it took a loan at Perugia and faith from Empoli to earn Vicario an opportunity in Italy’s top flight. During two campaigns at Empoli, the first on loan, Vicario shone to earn widespread praise in his homeland, including from goalkeeping great Gianluigi Buffon. Vicario will now attempt to establish himself in the Premier League and follow in the footsteps of Carlo Cudicini, another Italian stopper who represented Chelsea and Tottenham. The arrival of Vicario now switches Spurs’ focus to the future of Lloris, who could be allowed to leave this summer on a free transfer following 11 years in north London. Fraser Forster deputised last season when Lloris was injured and is contracted to the club until June 2024. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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Lucy Staniforth has been added to England’s standby list in place of Jess Park ahead of the Women’s World Cup. The Aston Villa midfielder will travel to St George’s Park on Tuesday to join up with the squad after Park returned to Manchester City for rehabilitation on a shoulder injury. Staniforth joins Maya Le Tissier on standby, with the pair due to remain with the group until their opening match of the tournament against Haiti in Brisbane on July 22. The Lionesses face Portugal in a friendly at a sold-out Stadium MK on Saturday before flying to Australia on Wednesday, July 5. There is concern for Alex Greenwood after she went down with an apparent injury during training at St George’s Park. The Manchester City defender was able to walk off the pitch and had an ice pack applied before heading inside for treatment. Sarina Wiegman’s squad play Haiti, Denmark and China in their group phase fixtures, though as one of the tournament favourites and European Championships winners, they will hope to go the distance this summer. Read More England ‘resilience’ can help Lionesses overcome injuries at Women’s World Cup UEFA to close contract loophole allowing clubs to spread cost of transfers Tottenham standing firm on Harry Kane amid interest from Bayern Munich

Eniola Aluko has left football fans baffled after sharing a theory about Declan Rice’s potential move to Arsenal, suggesting that the north London club asked Manchester City to put in a bid for the player. Arsenal have been chasing Rice over recent weeks and had an offer of £75 million plus £15 million in add-ons rejected. It’s also emerged that Man City have entered the race and had a £90 million bid rejected too, reportedly falling short of West Ham’s £100 million valuation for the player. Now, former England international Aluko has claimed that it could be a case of Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta calling up his former colleague Pep Guardiola and getting him to place a bid without really being interested in Rice. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Aluko has been sporting director for Aston Villa Women and Angel City in the US, and she said that it’s a tactic she had used in the past - but fans on social media aren't at all convinced. Aluko said: “There’s a lot of cat and mouse here and as a sporting director, I used to do this a lot. “I used to call up a club and say 'right, can you put a bid in' and that would get my owner to basically put a higher bid in. It’s a bit like an auction. “I don’t think that Manchester City actually want to sign Declan Rice. I think what is going on here is that Arteta has picked up the phone to Pep [Guardiola] and said ‘Arsenal are going to do the incremental bid approach, if you put a bid in, then that will push my owner’. “I think there’s a bit of that going on here.” Aluko went on to say: “I don’t know why Arsenal are doing this incremental approach but it says to me, Man City coming in later on, it feels like that it is going to help Arsenal. “The fans are going to get on it now and say ‘hold on a second, if you let Declan Rice go to Man City when he was our No.1 target, then that says a lot about Arsenal. “So I think there is a bit of that going on. I used to do it all the time and it used to work.” The opinion didn’t go down well with fans on social media, with users criticising the take. “What a bizarre take,” one wrote. Another said: “This might be the worst take I’ve ever heard.” One more commented: “Worst opinion and take I've seen on here for a while. Is she on a wind up or is this genuine?” Another added: “Pep just bidding £90m to help a mate is a proper weird take.” Former striker Aluko played 102 times for England, scoring 33 goals. She played for Chelsea, Atlanta Beat, Chelsea and Juventus during her club career. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

UEFA is set to close a loophole on Wednesday allowing clubs to spread the cost of big transfer fees over lengthy contracts. Chelsea have caught the eye over the last two transfer windows by signing players on long deals, including £107million January recruit Enzo Fernandez on an eight-and-a-half-year contract. The Blues have done so in order to spread the cost of the transfer fee over a greater period of time and comply with UEFA’s financial regulations, something which is currently permitted. However, it is understood UEFA’s executive committee will update the regulations when it meets on Wednesday. It is expected there will be no limit on the length of a contract, but the cost of any transfer fee will have to be spread over a maximum of five years. The PA news agency understands the Exco will not re-examine UEFA’s policies on multi-club ownership when it meets this week, despite it becoming an increasingly contentious and controversial issue in the game. However, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) is meeting this week to examine individual cases where there could be a conflict under existing multi-club ownership rules in its competitions next season. PA understands the CFCB is looking at Brighton and Belgian club Union St Gilloise, who have each qualified for next season’s Europa League and are both owned by Tony Bloom, and also Toulouse and AC Milan, who are owned by US-based investment firm RedBird Capital. A decision from the CFCB is expected towards the end of the week. Away from financial matters, the Exco will decide on which venue will host the 2025 Women’s Champions League final. The Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon is understood to be up against the Vodafone Stadium in Istanbul for the right to host. The 2024 and 2025 Europa Conference League final hosts will also be decided. The OPAP Arena, home to AEK Athens, is expected to host one of them while the Tarczynski Arena in Wroclaw, Poland, will stage the other. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live

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