From the Back Pages, July 11: Gunners complete £35m signing of Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez
DESPITE signing Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, Arsenal are set to miss out on Liverpool target and AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli this summer. (The Express)
Chelsea are exploring the feasibility of bringing Didier Drogba back to Stamford Bridge. The 36-year-old has interest from clubs in Qatar while Juventus continue to flirt with the idea of taking him to Turin. (Daily Mail)
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Hide AdThe inquest into Brazil’s humiliating exit from the World Cup is likely to run for several years, but for Wagner Ribeiro, better known as Neymar’s agent, there is only one person to blame: Luiz Felipe Scolari. (The Times)
Luis Suarez’s appeal against his four-month biting ban has been rejected by FIFA. The Uruguayan was slapped with the suspension following his coming together with Giorgio Chiellini in Natal last month. (The Mirror)
Germany’s Tour de France sprint supremacy continued in Champagne country on Thursday as Andre Greipel triumphed in Reims. The 194-kilometre sixth stage from Arras took place on wet roads, with crashes accounting for a number of riders. (The Telegraph)
Until Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami combined in an unlikely last-wicket partnership to frustrate England and inspire India in equal measure, it had been Alastair Cook’s team that in the conditions had exceeded expectation. A remarkable spell of cricket just before lunch and particularly in the first hour after the interval had seen the perspiring, persevering bowlers gain reward for their persistence with five wickets for 42 runs, four of them for two runs in the space of three overs, that saw India plummet from their hard-won perch at 304 for four, to 346 for nine. (The Guardian)