Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC sign former Brazilian international forward Fabio Junior on a 2 year contract from VfL Bochum 1848.
The Israeli UEFA Cup participants have recruited the 29 year old on a free transfer from the Bundesliga club, where he scored 3 goals in 31 games during the last 2 seasons.
Hapoel coach Guy Luzon mentioned of his new signing, "He did not get to play in the Bundesliga due to his nice eyes."
Fabio Junior came to prominence at Cruzeiro EC, striking 18 times in 32 games to earn a transfer to AS Roma in 1998. The Italian side later loaned him to Cruzeiro and SE Palmeiras in Brazil as well as Portugal's Vitoria SC.
The forward then moved permanently to Clube Atletico Mineiro, Japanese club Kashima Antlers and Al Wahda of the UAE. His new team Hapoel were drawn against NK Siroki Brijeg from Bosnia-Herzegovina in the UEFA Cup 2nd qualifying round.
30 July 2007
FC Shakhtar Donetsk sign highly rated Brazilian right back Ilsinho from Sao Paulo FC for a reported €10 million fee.
"We have been looking for a replacement for Dario Srna since last year because he was set to leave Donetsk as his contract was expiring," Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu said.
"Ilsinho was the only person I saw who would fill this position. Even when Srna agreed to extend his contract we did not back off. [Ilsinho] will be a good deputy for Srna if he cannot play. He can also play in central midfield alongside his former U21 team mate Fernandinho."
The 21 year old Ilsinho signed a 4 year contract in Donetsk, having scored twice in 38 league appearances in Brazil for Sao Paulo and SE Palmeiras.
Both AC Milan and Chelsea FC are reported to have taken an interest in the player. Ukrainian Premier League runners up Shakhtar start their UEFA Champions League campaign away against FC Pyunik in the 2nd qualifying round Tuesday.
It was a busy summer in the transfer market for Shakhtar who have already spent €8 million on Italian Cristiano Lucarelli as well bringing in Oleksandr Gladkiy, Volodymyr Priyomov, Volodymyr Yezerskiy and Andriy Pyatov. Matuzalem, Andriy Vorobey and Vyacheslav Sviderskiy have all departed.
19 July 2007
Senegal defender Pape Diakhate is the latest new face at Ukrainian champions FC Dynamo Kyiv after agreeing a switch from French club AS Nancy-Lorraine.
The 23 year old has signed a 4 year contract after Dynamo beat off competition from several clubs in France and Germany for his signature. Already capped 16 times by his country, Diakhate was a key man for Nancy last season.
As well as 8 games in the UEFA Cup, he played 33 Ligue 1 games. In all, he made 141 league appearances for Nancy over 6 campaigns having joined them originally from US Ouakam in his homeland.
Dynamo, who will bid to reached the UEFA Champions League from next month's 3rd qualifying round, were busy of late, having renewed terms with Serbian midfielder Milos Ninković and signed SC Palmeiras midfielder Michael and Guinea forward Ismaël Bangoura.
11 June 2007
Brazilian champions Sao Paulo lost 1-0 at home to Atletico Mineiro Sunday and sank to 9th place in the title race, whilst wins for Corinthians and Vasco put the clubs level with Botafogo on 11 points at the top of the table.
Sao Paulo have lost 2 of their 1st 5 games, compared with a record of 4 defeats in the whole of the 2006 championship.
The reigning champions had defender Leandro dismissed for a lunging challenge and Atletico capitalised with Paulo Henrique scoring past goalie Rogerio Ceni.
Sao Paulo coach Muricy Ramalho admitted that his team were in danger of losing touch with the leaders even at such an early stage.
"I am not interested in offering excuses here. We know we can do better and we must work hard to get past this phase," he informed reporters.
With Gremio focused Wednesday's Libertadores Cup clash with Argentina's Boca Juniors, Vasco had taken advantage by coasting to 4-0 home win.
Romario underlined his determination to keep playing inspite of having recently reached his 1,000 goal career target.
The veteran forward scored 2 of the Vasco goals in a game that was interrupted for half an hour due to a power failure.
Botafogo earned a 1-1 draw against Palmeiras, whilst Santos' poor run continued with a 1-0 defeat to Internacional.
