Transfer talk: Barcelona buy Jeremy Mathieu; Algeria’s Brahimi to FC Porto

Barca sent EU€20 million (Dh99.1m) to Valencia for the 30-year-old defender, while Algeria international Yacine Brahimi completed a move to Portugal on Wednesday.

Jeremy Mathieu was purchased by Barcelona on Wednesday from Valencia. Manuel Bruque / EPA

Barcelona

Spanish giants Barcelona said Wednesday they have bought 30-year-old French defender Jeremy Mathieu from Valencia for EU€20 million (Dh99.1m).

Barcelona have been seeking to bolster their defence since Carlos Puyol ended his career.

Though he is not an established French international, Mathieu is recognised as a powerful operator at left back and in central defence. Barcelona called him a “physically imposing defender”.

The Catalan club had made several offers to Valencia for Mathieu who last week issued a public letter calling on the side to negotiate his release.

“I have a chance to play for the world’s biggest club and that’s all I want right now,” he said.

Barcelona said in a statement it had reached agreement on a transfer and Mathieu would sign a four season contract.

“The cost of the transfer is €20m and the buyout clause will be €50m,” it said.

Mathieu played at Sochaux and Toulouse in Ligue 1 until he joined Valencia in 2009.

FC Porto

Algerian international Yacine Brahimi has signed for five seasons with FC Porto from Spanish club Granada, the Portuguese Primeira Liga side announced on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old French-born attacking midfielder has agreed a €6.5m deal with a €50m buy-out clause, the club said.

Brahimi played up to Under-21 level for the French national side before switching to Algeria.

Capped seven times he impressed during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil where he scored his first international goal to help Algeria reach the second round for the first time.

Metz

Senegalese international defensive midfielder Guirane N’Daw has signed for two years with promoted FC Metz, the French Ligue 1 club confirmed on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old is out of contract with Greek top flight side Asteras Tripolis where he played 32 matches last seasons.

Capped 44 times for Senegal, N’Daw started his career with French side Sochaux in 2002 before moving to Ligue 1 rivals Nantes and Saint-Etienne, followed by stints at Real Zaragoza in Spain and Birmingham City and Ipswich Town in England.

He becomes Metz’s fifth recruit for the new season after Venezuelan striker Juan Manuel Falcon, Argentine defender Jose Luis Palomino, French defender Jonathan Rivierez and Franco-Ivorian midfielder Cheick Doukoure.

The club from eastern France were relegated in 2007 and hit rock bottom at the end of the 2011/12 season when they were relegated to the third-tier National level.

But they climbed back into the second division last year and they were top of that since late last year.

Germany

World Cup-winning coach Joachim Loew announced on Wednesday that he will see out his contract with Germany which runs until the 2016 European championship.

“I didn’t think of stopping for one second,” said Loew, 54, in an interview on the German Football Federation (DFB) website.

Loew took over as German head coach in 2006 after two years as assistant and extended his contract until 2016 before the World Cup in Brazil.

Ecuador

The Ecuador Football Federation have replaced national coach Reinaldo Rueda after the team failed to get out of the World Cup group stages.

Under-20 coach Sixto Vizuete will take charge of the team at least until January, the federation announced.

Ecuador were the first South American team to drop out of the World Cup in Brazil and federation president Luis Chiriboga had said in recent days that the country’s football leadership were not happy.

“We expected more from our team,” he said.

FC Dnipro

FC Dnipro announced on Wednesday the first leg of their Champions League qualifier against FC Copenhagen will be played in Kiev due to the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Dnipro had been due to host the Danish club on July 30, but European football governing body Uefa ruled that match cannot take place at the Dnipro-Arena because of security concerns.

“The match between Dnipro and Copenhagen will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev in July 30 at 1900,” Dnipro announced via Twitter.

FC Copenhagen had asked Uefa to move the match to another venue, citing safety and insurance concerns.

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