The 35-year-old Colombian professional footballer has joined Spain’s Rayo Vallecanoon a free transfer after his contract with Galatasaray was terminated.
Falcao joined Gala in 2019 and spent two seasons in Turkey but is best known for his spells with Porto, Atletico Madridand Monaco. He also played for Manchester Unitedand Chelsea on loan.
He is Colombia’s all-time top scorer with 35 goals in 91 appearances and has won the Europa League with Porto and Atletico, as well as winning Ligue 1 with Monaco.
Rayo, who face Levante in LaLiga play on September 10, have lost two and won one of their opening three league games of the season.
Chelsea F.C. has completed a deal to sign the 26-year-old Spanish soccer player from Atletico Madridon loan for the season, the two clubs announced on Tuesday.
The deal contains an option to buy next summer for a set fee, according to sources.
The deal was thrown into doubt as the transfer hadn’t been confirmed by either club before the midnight CET deadline.
Local media said the delay was caused by a problem with LaLiga‘s transfer registration system, however, and the documentation had been correctly submitted in time.
“We welcome Saul to the Club and believe he completes our squad as we compete for honours in five different competitions this season,” Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia said.
“He is a proven winner, a player with huge experience and we know he will be very well-suited to the challenges that face us on all fronts in the coming year.”
ESPN recently reported Chelsea were in talks with Saul, while Manchester Unitedwere also interested in the Spain midfielder, who has spent the last 13 years at Atletico after coming through the club’s youth ranks.
However, United opted against pursuing a deal, leaving the path clear for Chelsea to make their second major signing of the summer after Romelu Lukaku joined from Inter Milan in a €115 million deal.
Earlier in the summer, sources told ESPN, Saul had been offered to Barcelonain a proposed swap deal with Antoine Griezmann but the two parties were unable to agree a deal.
The 32-year-old Brazilian Spanish soccer player has signed with Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro, with the Spaininternational player set to return to action after eight months.
Costa, a former Atletico Madridand Chelseastriker, had been without a club since December following his departure from Atletico Madrid after the LaLiga champions agreed to the Brazil-born player’s request to rescind his contract.
It was his second spell at Atletico Madrid, having earlier played for the club from 2010-14.
In the 2013-14 season, Costa helped Atletico to the Spanish title with 27 goals and they also reached the Champions League final but lost 4-1 to rivals Real Madrid in extra-time after Costa was forced off early with a hamstring injury.
Costa joined Chelsea in 2014 and was an instant hit, firing the London club to the 2014-15 and 2016-17 Premier League titles with 20 goals in each campaign.
He returned to Atletico Madrid in January 2018 but injuries limited him to 43 LaLiga starts in three years as he scored 12 goals, and opportunities were further limited by the signings of Joao Felix and Luis Suarez.
The enigmatic striker joins Atletico Mineiro, who defeated second-placed Palmeiras 2-0 earlier on Saturday and extended their lead at the top of Brazil’s Serie A to five points.
FC Barcelona is finalizing the signing of the 32-year-old Argentine professional footballer on a free transfer this summer, according to ESPN.
Barca have offered Aguero a two-year contract and sources say the Argentina international could arrive to the Camp Nou after the Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelseaon May 29.
Aguero, who will turn 33 next month, has agreed to considerably reduce his wages and will join as a free agent once his contract with Manchester City expires on June 30.
Barca have been looking for a No. 9 since Luis Suarez‘s departure to Atletico Madrid last summer.
Club president Joan Laporta sees Aguero’s potential arrival as a great opportunity for Barca because of the former Atletico star’s experience and that no transfer fee is required.
Barca came close to signing Aguero in 2014 but decided instead to acquire Suarez.
Aguero has other important offers on the table, and his willingness to lower his wages to arrive to the Camp Nou is valued by the club, according to a source.
Barca are convinced that in the short term, Aguero will outperform Martin Braithwaite, who has scored seven goals this season. The Denmarkinternational is expected to be placed on the transfer list this summer.
Barca also believe that Aguero’s signing would help persuade his friend and Argentinateammate Lionel Messi to renew his contract.
Messi, whose contract expires next month, has yet to sign a new deal with Barca.
Barcelonamoved to fifth place in La Liga with a victory at Huesca on Sunday, with the 33-year-old Argentine soccer star earning a special assist.
Frenkie de Jong scored in the 27th minute for Ronald Koeman‘s side, who are now unbeaten over their last six matches.
Messi provided the assist on de Jong’s goal, giving him 200 for his Blaugrana career.
It was Messi’s 500th appearance for Barcelona in La Liga when he took to the pitch at El Alcoraz for Sunday’s La Liga clash against Huesca.
The captain was back in the starting XI to lead his team out for their first game of 2021 after sitting out the draw against Eibar last time out.
Messi becomes the first non-Spanish player to reach 500 games in La Liga and is now just five behind Xavi’s record of La Liga appearances for Barca.
The Argentina international is also close to moving past Xavi and becoming Barca’s all-time appearance maker.
Xavi played in a total of 767 games for Barcelona, while Messi is now on 750.
Former goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta holds the record for the most La Liga appearances. He managed 622 during a career which saw him play for Athletic, Barcelona and Valencia.
Barca now have 28 points from 16 matches, one behind fourth-placed Villarreal and 10 behind table-toppers Atletico Madrid, who still have a game in hand.
Huesca sit at the bottom of the table with 12 points after 17 matches.
The Catalans next face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, while Huesca will host Real Betison January 11.
The 33-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer, a forward for Atlético Madrid and the Uruguay national team, has bought and donated 1,000 Big Macs as part of an annual charity event that McDonald’s carries out in his native country.
Suarez purchased the hamburgers in Spain, at €4.75 each, spending a total of €4,750, via the McDelivery platform in order to take part in Friday’s event.
All the funds generated from the purchases of those hamburgers are donated by McDonald’s to the Ronald McDonald House Association and the young people from the school Liceo Impulso.
The Ronald McDonald House in Uruguay helps more than 7,000 children and their families each year, working every day to provide accommodation and support to families of hospitalized children, children undergoing medical treatment and pregnant women that are at risk.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona player decided to donate all the Big Macs to the children from a youth league of Pando, a city 32 kilometers from the country’s capital Montevideo.
McDonald’s Uruguay thanked Suarez for his generosity and invited others, saying that distance is no impediment to donate.
“Luis Suarez proved that the Big Day has no frontiers. He bought 1,000 Big Macs from Spain via McDelivery to help the House Ronald, Liceo Impulso and donate to Pando’s BabyLeague,” tweeted McDonald’s Uruguay. “Thank you, Luis, for putting the jersey on the Big Day! Anyone can join in wherever you are.”
Manchester United and the 33-year-old Uruguayan soccer player are close to agreeing to a two-year deal, according to ESPN.
Cavani, a free agent since leaving Paris Saint-Germainat the end of last season, has been offered to every major club in Europe but United are now actively working on an agreement that could see the striker travel to England on Sunday for a medical.
Sources told ESPN that talks accelerated quickly on Saturday with final discussions scheduled for Sunday morning.
Cavani is keen to move to Old Trafford and could sign an initial one-year deal with the option for another 12 months.
He has already held talks with a number of clubs this summer. The first offer arrived from Benfica, although they weren’t able to pay as much as he was hoping to receive.
Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Juventus also weighed up making a move but, for various reasons, dropped out of the running for his signature.
The Uruguay international scored 200 goals in 301 games for PSG following his move from Napoli in 2013.
Atletico Madrid have signed the 33-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer from FC Barcelona.
Barca confirmed on Wednesday that Suarez will leave for the Spanish capital and will hold a farewell press conference on Thursday.
Suarez joins Atletico on a free transfer, although Barca could make up to €6 million on the move based on a number of performance-related variables.
The deal is expected to be for two years, with Atletico stating the deal is subject to a medical examination.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone was the driving force behind the move for Suarez, which fell into place once Alvaro Moratajoined Juventus on loan on Tuesday.
The Rojiblancos, like Barca, are in a period of financial uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic and needed to make room on their wage bill before signing new players.
The move draws parallels with David Villa‘s switch from Barca to Atletico in 2013. With Villa up front, Simeone’s side won the La Liga title and reached the Champions League final, knocking Barca out along the way.
Suarez, who recently became the third-highest scorer in Barca’s history with 198 goals, was told he was surplus to requirements by new coach Ronald Koeman last month.
That prompted the player’s legal team to begin talks with the Catalan club over the early termination of his contract, which had one year left to run.
An agreement was eventually brokered on Monday, which would see Suarez give up a percentage of what he was owed in exchange for being allowed to leave for free.
But, when it came out that he planned to join Atletico, Barca, who didn’t want to strengthen a direct rival for free, backtracked on the original agreement.
Suarez had previously rejected the chance to join Inter Miami, who offered him the chance to become the highest-ever paid player in Major League Soccer with a deal worth around €8m annually.
He also looked close to joining Juventus at one time. To move to the Serie A champions, though, he needed to obtain Italian citizenship, which meant passing a language exam in Perugia last week.
The striker leaves Barcelona six years after signing from Liverpool for €75m. During his time at Camp Nou, he won 14 trophies, including four La Liga titles and one Champions League.
The 33-year-old Uruguayan professional footballer and Barcelona striker has been given the green light to return to action almost five months after undergoing a knee operation
Suarez last played for Barca in a 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid on January 9 and underwent surgery three days later to repair a problem in his right knee.
The striker’s return will be a boost for Barca manager Quique Setien, with Suarez having scored 11 goals and set up seven more in 17 league appearances before he sustained the injury.
Barcelona trained at the Camp Nou stadium for the first time since the coronavirus lockdown on Saturday.
Barca are set to return to action against relegation-threatened Mallorca on June 13.
Barca hold a two-point lead over rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with 58 points after 27 games. Their last game in the league was a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on March 7.
Lionel Messi leads Barcelona back to the top of the standings…
The 32-year-old Argentine soccer star hit a sensational late goal on Sunday to give Barcelona FC a 1-0 win against rival Atletico Madrid, as the team reclaimed the top spot in La Liga from Real Madrid.
Messi, playing his 701st game for Barca, settled a pulsating and tense encounter in the 86th minute, galloping down the right wing before cutting inside and playing a one-two with Luis Suarez before guiding the ball into the bottom corner.
It was Messi’s first goal against Atletico at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium and gave his side their first win over their rivals at the ground in three attempts after successive draws in the last two seasons.
“Whenever you have a game like this which is really tight and really tough, being able to count on Messi is always an advantage,” said Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.
The strike saw Barca return to the top of the standings with 31 points after 14 games, ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference, while Atletico were left in the sixth spot with 25 points, having played one match more than Barca and Real.
Both sides hit the woodwork and Barca keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen also made two stunning saves, while Atletico felt that Gerard Pique should have been shown a second yellow card in the second half for a late tackle on Alvaro Morata.
Atletico were also fortunate not to have a player sent off when Vitolo slammed into Pique’s knee with a fierce challenge a few minutes later after picking up an earlier booking.
“We feel very hard done by,” said Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez. “We played superbly and Barcelona had hardly any chances but when Messi appears he is capable of doing anything and he made it look so easy, that’s why he is the best.”
Atletico had won only one of their previous six games in all competitions and looked intent on making an early statement as they came out pressing Barca high up the pitch and peppering their box with crosses.
