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Transfer Ticker: Dos Santos joins Villarreal; Swansea sign Ivorian striker Bony; and more

GiovaniDosSantos1-MexicoConfedsCup (Getty)

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

After turning down a lucrative offer from the Los Angeles Galaxy, Mexican national team star Giovani Dos Santos will return to Spain’s top division for the upcoming season.

Newly promoted Villarreal announced on Tuesday that an agreement with Mallorca has been reached for the transfer of Dos Santos. The announcement came during the presentation of another Villarreal signing from Mallorca, midfielder Tomas Pina.

“To make sure Pina isn’t on his own, one of his teammates from Mallorca will be coming with him, Dos Santos,” Villarreal president Fernando Roig said.

The 24-year-old La Masia product and recently relegated Mallorca turned down a reported €8 million ($10.2 million) offer from the Galaxy two weeks ago, a deal that included a €2 million ($2.6 million) per year contract.

Although the fee was not disclosed, reports from Spain indicate the Mexican midfielder is signing a four-year deal with Villarreal. Dos Santos played in 32 matches across all competitions for Mallorca last season, scoring six goals in what would be his only season with the club.

Here are some more transfer stories from around the world:

SWANSEA SIGN IVORIAN STRIKER BONY

On a day when Jozy Altidore completed his move from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar to Sunderland, another prolific goalscorer from last season’s Eredivisie is making an English Premier League move of his own.

Swansea City reportedly agreed on a deal with Vitesse for 24-year-old Ivorian striker Wilfried Bony, who led the Dutch league with 31 goals in 30 matches last season. Bony’s transfer fee is said to be around £12 million ($17.8 million).

The 2013 Dutch Footballer of the Year began his professional career at Czech club Sparta Prague, where he scored 30 goals in 75 competitions. Bony made a move to Vitesse in January 2011.

Bony will be the seventh transfer of the summer for Swansea City, who will be in the Europa League this upcoming season thanks to their 2013 Capital One Cup title.

VETERAN GOALKEEPER SCHWARZER SIGNS WITH CHELSEA

After turning down a contract extension with Fulham, many in England wondered if 40-year-old Mark Schwarzer’s days in the English Premier League were over.

It appears that the Australian goalkeeper has at least one more season of top-flight action left in him after signing a contract with Chelsea on Tuesday.

Schwarzer, who is the first foreign player to make over 500 appearances in England’s top division, arrives at Stamford Bridge following a five-year stay with Fulham. Before becoming a Cottager, Schwarzer spent a dozen seasons at Middlesbrough.

The most-capped player in Australian national team history, Schwarzer will provide experience for Jose Mourinho’s squad and reliability behind current first-team goalkeeper Petr Cech. Chelsea recently released backup goalkeepers Ross Turnbull and Hilario, and Thibaut Courtois was loaned for a third year to Atletico Madrid.

TWO MORE FORMER WIGAN PLAYERS JOIN MARTINEZ AT EVERTON

After signing striker Arouna Kone on Monday, new Everton manager Roberto Martinez has brought two more of his former Wigan Athletic players to Goodison Park.

Veteran defender Antolin Alcaraz and young goalkeeper Joel Robles joined Everton on Tuesday in two separate deals. Alcaraz was on a free transfer, and Robles was signed from Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee.

Alcaraz was brought to Wigan from Club Brugge in 2010, and the center back made 68 appearances in three seasons at the DW Stadium.

Robles, a 23-year-old Spanish goakeeper from the Atletico youth system, was loaned out to Wigan in the 2013 winter transfer window. He battled his way to becoming the first-choice goalkeeper late in the season, starting and posting a shutout in Wigan’s FA Cup Final victory over Manchester City.

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What do you think of these transfers? Did you expect Dos Santos to stay in La Liga? See Bony making an impact in Swansea’s domestic and continental campaigns?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Frankly I’d rather see Jozy at Swansea, where they play some attractive, attacking soccer, and Bony at Sunderland. Too late to make that trade??

    Reply
    • That was my initial thought too, kind of ho hum. However, I believe Sunderland just signed Giaccherini, a talented attacking mid from Juve (not sure why they sold him). I think young manager di Canio will change the complexion of that team, he wants to be more attack minded. We’ll see what other moves they make. I will definitely watch them.

      Reply
  2. So galaxy cant get, kaka, gio, russian dude, lampard, ronaldinho, tevez, sneijder. MLS parity and salarity cup equals division 2 🙂

    Reply
      • “valued” not his actual price, of course… and they had Jozy valued at about GBP4.3M. Again, not price.

      • that’s what i was wondering. Jozy valued below GDS. i would like to know the price comparison too.

      • Sure, me too. And to be fair, those “valuations” are from godknowswhere. Just throwing it out there for conversation.

    • According to a Mexican Journalist, Pina went for 9m euros and dos Santos for 1m euros, this was done to so that the Spurs wouldn’t receive much from this transfer since they own 50% of dos Santos card.

      Reply
    • they sold GDS for almost nothing to make Tottenham get peanuts for their 50% of his rights, Mallorca sold Tomas Pina for 9m and GDS for 1, but their weren’t really interested in the Pina guy, their president actually interrupted Pina’s press conference just to announce they signed Giovani. They also loaned them a player called Gerard Moreno as part of the deal.

      Reply

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