Rising Spanish striker Bojan Krkic is on his way to Roma. For at least the next two years anyway.
The Serie A club landed the 20-year-old forward on a €12 million deal from Barcelona, but the defending European champions put a buy-back clause in his contract, meaning they have the option to bring him back to Camp Nou after the 2012-2013 season for a €13 million fee. According to reports, if Roma blocks that option, then the original price of the transfer skyrockets to €40 million.
Bojan, a member of Spain's U-21 European championship team and a Barcelona youth product, scored seven goals in all competitions in limited action last season, but he would have been buried on the depth chart behind the likes of David Villa, Pedro and new signing Alexis Sanchez had he stayed put.
Here are a few more stories from around the soccer world:
U.S. WOMEN STILL TOP FIFA RANKINGS
Despite falling in the final of the Women's World Cup, the United States women's national team is still ranked No. 1 in the world.
The latest FIFA women's rankings are out, and the top five spots are unchanged despite this summer's results. World Cup champion Japan remains at No. 4, while the United States is followed by Germany and Brazil, respectively.
The big jumper among the top 10 is England, which moved up four spots to No. 6, one spot ahead of the French team that it lost to in the World Cup quarterfinals.
MATA MAY MOVE TO ARSENAL
Arsenal has come to life in this summer's transfer window.
After securing Gervinho from Lille and making an unsuccessful bid for Everton's Phil Jagielka, the club has been given the green light for a proposed transfer of Valencia's Juan Mata.
Despite the player insisting he is happy to remain with the La Liga club, Valencia has well-publicized financial issues and has been forced to sell some of its prize assets. David Silva and David Villa departed the club last summer, and this time around, Mata looks like he could be London bound.
Head coach Unai Emery stated that he wished to hold on to the player, but if a lucrative bid came in, the club may be forced to accept the offer. With Cesc Fabregas potentially on the outs, Arsenal could look to Mata as a piece of the rebuilding process. A Spanish international, Mata has made 129 appearances for Valencia and netted 33 goals in his four year stay at the club.
FULHAM ADVANCES IN EUROPA QUALIFYING
Fulham advanced to the third round of UEFA Europa League qualifying via a 4-0 victory over Crusaders on Thursday to take their qualifying tie by a 7-1 aggregate.
Andrew Johnson, Damien Duff, Bobby Zamora and Steve Sidwell scored for the Cottagers, who will meet Croatian side RNK Split in the next round. Should Fulham, which qualified for the tournament via the its fair-play standing, advance past Split, it'd have one more playoff round to get through before making the group stage.
Clint Dempsey has not yet appeared for Fulham in Europa qualifying, as he remains on rest after the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
PARK OFFERED CONTRACT
Manchester United has offered Park Ji-sung a two-year contract to extend his stay at Old Trafford. The 30-year-old South Korean has quietly been an important figure for the Red Devils, with whom has he been since 2005. He retired from international soccer earlier this year.
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What do you think of the Bojan deal? Think the FIFA women's rankings make any sense? Do you think Mata would succeed in the Premier League? Think Fulham can continue advancing without Dempsey? How important do you see Park being to Manchester United's continued success?
Share your thoughts below.