Barcelona Complete Move For Alexis Sanchez

The Italian media are suggesting the protracted transfer of the Chilean attacker has finally drawn to a conclusion, with the deal set to be announced imminently

Alexis Sanchez can be considered a Barcelona player as just an official announcement is missing after the Camp Nou side completed their move for the 22-year-old on Thursday afternoon, Sky Sport Italia reports.

The player's agent, Fernando Felicevich, and Barcelona director Andoni Zubizarreta have apparently held positive final discussions about the transfer.

Felicevich arrived in Barcelona on Wednesday night to wrap the move up following an agreement with Udinese.

The meeting took place less than 24 hours after the Serie A outfit announced they had reached an agreement for the player's transfer.

A number of financial issues have also been resolved and Barcelona are expected to announce the move officially either on Thursday evening or on Friday once the final paperwork has been filed.

Udinese will reportedly receive around £22.9 million in cash, plus another £9.7m related to bonuses.

Nico Perrey Joins Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen announced that it has completed the signing of Arminia Bielefeld starlet Nico Perrey.

The center-back was one of the stars of the German U-17 team that reached the European Championship final and took third place in the World Cup earlier this summer.

Last year, the 17-year-old played for Bielefeld's U19 team. However, following his good performances on the international stage and the relegation of his club to the 3. Liga, Perrey opted to move to Leverkusen.

There, he joins fellow Germany U-17 internationals Samed Yesil and Okan Aydin.

"Nico wants to take the next step with us. He was well trained in Bielefeld, but with the relegation of Arminia from the A-Junior-Bundesliga, he would no longer be called for at a high level," Bayer youth coach Jurgen Gelsdorf told the club's official website.

Along with his fellow youth international teammates, Perrey will spend the next two weeks on holiday before resuming training on August 1.

Internacional Complete Loan Deal For Malaga's Sandro Silva

Internacional have completed the signing of Malaga's Sandro Silva on a season-long loan deal, according to the Spanish club's official website.

The Brazilian outfit agreed a deal with the Liga side and has the option of purchasing the defensive midfielder once the loan period is over.

Silva joined the club when Jesualdo Ferreira was coach for €1.5 million. However, when Manuel Pellegrini replaced Ferreira, Silva played a bit-part role as the team finished in 11th place in the Primera Division.

The purchase of players such as Julio Baptista and Jeremy Toulalan means that his first team opportunities next season would have been even more limited.

Silva had previous stints with Mirassol, Palmeiras and Botafogo.

Benfica Complete Capdevila Transfer

Benfica have announced the signing of Villarreal defender Joan Capdevila on a two-year deal.

No details of the fee were announced, but the Portuguese club did reveal that the 33-year-old's contract includes a €20million (£17.6million) buy-out clause.

The full-back, who has won 57 caps for Spain and featured in the victorious UEFA EURO 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup™ campaigns, will be expected to fill the void left by Portugal international Fabio Coentrao's departure to Real Madrid.

Capdevila made 145 appearances in four seasons with the Yellow Submarine, scoring 15 goals.

Bremen Swoop For Papastathopoulos

Werder Bremen have signed Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos on a season-long loan from Genoa.

The deal, which also includes an option for the Bundesliga side to make the move permanent next summer, was completed on Thursday after the player met Werder general manager Klaus Allofs at the team's pre-season training camp in Donaueschingen.

Allofs said of the 23-year-old centre-half: "He is a young player who with Genoa and Greece has already gained some experience. With his speed, strength and tackling he will certainly help us.''

Papastathopoulos, who has also had spells with AEK Athens and AC Milan, added on the club's official website: "After initial discussions with Klaus Allofs and (coach) Thomas Schaaf it was immediately clear that I would accept the offer from Werder.

"Now I will try to integrate as soon as possible into the team.''

AZ Alkmaar Signs Jozy Altidore

Dutch club AZ Alkmaar says it has signed United States striker Jozy Altidore from Spain's Villarreal to a four-year contract.

Alkmaar announced the deal for the 21-year-old forward on its website Wednesday but gave no financial details.

Altidore joined Villarreal from Major League Soccer's New York Red Bulls in 2008 but failed to establish himself at the Spanish club, which loaned him to Spain's Xerez, England's Hull and Turkey's Bursaspor.

Altidore, who played at last year's World Cup in South Africa, has made 39 appearances for his country, scoring 12 goals.

Chelsea Conclude Signing Of Barcelona Midfielder

Chelsea is on the verge of completing a swoop for Barcelona midfielder Oriol Romeu, according to El Mundo Deportivo.

The Catalan newspaper says the 19 year-old Romeu will move to Stamford Bridge for approximately £4m, and only one issue needs to be resolved before the transfer is wrapped up.

Barcelona are believed to want to insert a clause for them to re-sign Romeu in two years time, but Chelsea are understandably reluctant to accept - though it is common practice for Barca to demand this in sale negotiations.

Romeu is primarily a defensive midfielder, but is also able to fill in at centre back when required, like the man he is sometimes compared to, Sergio Busquets.

However, unlike Busquets, Romeu offers more of a physical presence, and Chelsea boss Andre Villas Boas will hope he suits the Premier League.

Liverpool Eyeing Intelligent Move For Excellent Spain Winger

Liverpool's search for a right winger has led them to seriously consider a bid for Sevilla's Jesus Navas.

The Reds have filled the vacancy on the left flank with the £20m signing of Stewart Downing from Aston Villa and now want to provide balance on the opposite side of the field in a formation that resonates with traditional English football tactics. With Andy Carroll reminiscent of legendary Bolton and England centre forward Nat Lofthouse, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish wants Navas to reprise the role of Sir Stanley Matthews to supply the bullets to his target man.

The £22m-rated wide man has been identified as a target with two huge positives against his name. Firstly, he is a player of huge talent. A full Spain international, he is consistently one of the best performers in La Liga despite not playing for either Barcelona or Real Madrid. He was pivotal in both of Sevilla's recent UEFA Cup wins in 2006 and 2007 under former Tottenham boss Juande Ramos and was also part of Spain's World Cup winning squad of 2o1o.

Secondly - despite his talent - he is yet to play in the UEFA Champions League. Sevilla reached the eliminator for last season's competition but lost to Sporting Braga in a two-legged tie and with the club only finishing fifth in the Primera Division in 2010/11 he is yet to fulfil that particular dream. Liverpool will not feature in Europe at all next season but their expenditure in recent months belies their ambition to at least finish in the top four of the Premier League in the forthcoming campaign. At 25, Navas is entering the prime years of his career and Liverpool want him to spend those on Merseyside.

However, there is one huge obstacle to be overcome. Navas is afflicted by chronic homesickness, a condition that has prevented him from leaving his hometown of Seville for an extended period. He required treatment in order to facilitate his part in going to South Africa with the national team last year and it is believed that he feels rather more confident about the prospect of living outside of his usual support structure. since that experience.

Although the Spanish influence at Anfield has waned since the departure of Rafael Benitez, Liverpool will try to convince Navas that he will receive all the support he needs should he decide to make the switch.

Heinze Poised To Join Roma

Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze is on the brink of signing for Roma after leaving Marseille earlier this summer.

The 33-year-old is expected to pen a one-year deal with the Giallorossi, with the option for another season.

Heinze arrives at the Stadio Olimpico as a free agent after parting ways with Ligue 1 giants Marseille,who missed out on the title to Lille last term.

He travelled to Rome on Thursday to meet with club officials ahead of putting pen to paper on a deal.

The stopper, capped 71 times for the Argentina national side, arrived at Marseille from Real Madridin 2009.

Heinze also spent three seasons at Manchester United between 2004-07 before departing for the Bernabeu.

He has previously stated his desire to play in Italy having already turned out in Spain, England and France, while Roma's Serie A rivals Juventus were also thought to be chasing his signature.

Atletico Madrid To Land New Chelsea Keeper On Loan

Chelsea new boy Thibaut Courtois will fly out to Spain to finalize a loan move to Atletico Madrid.

Courtois, 19, is set to complete his dream move to Chelsea this week from Genk, but is set to go straight out on loan so he can get some regular first-team football.

The Belgian star is regarded as one of the best young keepers in Europe but knows he needs to be patient as he waits to make his breakthrough into the Chelsea first-team.

Atletico Madrid was in the race to sign Courtois on a permanent basis, but could not compete with Chelsea and is now looking to secure a loan deal for the 19-year-old.

Courtois is hoping that the terms can be agreed quickly and he can focus on getting himself ready for the start of the La Liga season which gets underway next month.

Vidal To Make Juve Move

Arturo Vidal has revealed that he is set to secure a switch to Juventus from German outfit Bayer Leverkusen.

The Chile international had put discussions regarding his future on hold while he represented his country at the Copa America.

He is, however, now in a position to decide what his next move will be, and he has opted to try his luck in Serie A.

The 24-year-old midfielder is on his way to Italy to thrash out terms with Juve and admits he cannot wait to experience life at one of European football's most iconic clubs.

"I'm happy, it's a big and important step for my career at one of the biggest clubs in Europe," said Vidal.

"I'm very content about this new opportunity that I'm being given. It's a new team which is being built with the aim of being champions and qualifying for international competitions."

Vidal, who has spent the last four years in Germany with Leverkusen, added: "My experience in Germany will be useful to me in Italy because tactically it's a similar kind of football."

Leverkusen are reluctant sellers, but general manager Rudi Voller has confirmed that an agreement to take Vidal to Turin is close.

He told Tuttosport: "We are in touch with the authorities of Juventus and we are close to sealing a deal."

Mirko Vucinic Lined Up As Tottenham Alternative To Emmanuel Adebayor

Tottenham will swoop for Roma striker Mirko Vucinic if they cannot thrash out a deal with Manchester City to sign Emmanuel Adebayor.

City would rather sell Adebayor than loan him out again, and with the striker’s wage demands likely to scupper any deal anyway, Spurs have now turned their attentions to Montenegrin Vucinic.

The Roma forward has fallen out of favour with the club's fans, and despite the Giallorossi’s desire to keep him, Spurs are still trying to strike a £15million deal with the Serie A giants.

Vucinic managed just 10 goals in the league last season, and has since asked to leave after his attitude and body language came in for heavy criticism from the clubs’ supporters.

But despite doubts over the 27-year-old’s temperament, Harry Redknapp still sees the talented front man as an improvement on his current strike force and is confident of turning his form around.

Atletico Madrid Target Falcao

Sergio Aguero's move to Manchester City has moved a step closer with Atletico Madrid reportedly setting their sights on signing Falcao as his replacement.

City has made Aguero their principal transfer target, and a deal worth £35m is expected to be completed this week.

And Atletico are lining up Falcao to replace him, according to newspaper Marca, even though the striker has signed a new deal at Porto following interest from Chelsea.

That could ease Aguero's move to the Etihad Stadium, although the future of captain Carlos Tevez remains unclear.