Mercedes retain Bottas for next season
London: Valtteri Bottas has signed a new deal with Mercedes, keeping him at the Formula One team until the end of the 2021 season. Bottas, who was runner-up to Hamilton last year, joined Mercedes in 2017 and has so far notched eight wins and 12 pole positions with the team.
Tokyo Bay temporarily remove Oly rings
Tokyo: The Olympic rings monument installed in Tokyo Bay for the 2020 Summer Games was temporarily removed for maintenance on Thursday and will return in December when Japan heads into the final stretch of preparations for the rescheduled event. The monument, which was installed seven months ago and stands 15.3m tall and 32.6m wide, will be cleaned and undergo a safety inspection before being re-installed.
Man City sign Ake from Bournemouth
Manchester: Manchester City have signed Dutch defender Nathan Ake from Bournemouth. Ake has put pen to paper on a five-year deal, keeping him at City until the summer of 2025. The 25-year-old said he is delighted to have joined City, a club he feels offers him everything he needs to win trophies and have a successful career.
Friedkin group complete Roma takeover
Rome: US-based Friedkin group has reached an agreement with the current owners of Serie A club Roma to buy the former league champions for 591 million euros. Roma said in a statement that owner and club president James Pallotta has signed the necessary preliminary contracts to Dan Friedkin, the current chairman and CEO of The Friedkin Group, on Wednesday night.
Garcia joins ATK Mohun Bagan FC
Kolkata: Spanish mid-fielder Edu Garcia has signed a two-year deal with newly merged ATK Mohun Bagan FC, the franchise of the ISL announced on Thursday. Having represented Bengaluru FC in 2017-18, Garcia returned to the ISL for the second half of the 2018-19 with ATK and scored the winning goal against Chennaiyin FC to guide them to a record third title last season.
MCA writes to CM seeking nod for practice
Mumbai: The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has written to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, seeking his approval for its players' practice at the indoor facility of the Bandra Kurla Complex. The Maharashtra Government has so far not allowed any team sport to resume in the state and they have also not given a go-ahead for the resumption of training of individual cricketers.
Ledley King hired as Mourinho's assistant
London: Tottenham has appointed former captain Ledley King to become an assistant manager under Jose Mourinho. The 39-year-old King spent his entire 13-year playing career at Tottenham and has been a club ambassador since retiring in 2012. The former center back made 323 appearances and lifted the League Cup as captain in 2008 which is the club's last major trophy. King has joined Mourinho's backroom team in place of tactical analyst Ricardo Formosinho, who has left the club.
Kyrgios likely to pull out of French Open
Melbourne: Nick Kyrgios dropped a huge hint on Thursday that he will skip the French Open, saying the chances of him travelling to Europe this year were “slim to none”. “It's a very slim chance I'll play in Europe. Almost slim to none to be honest,” he said. The Australian last week pulled out of the upcoming US Open in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic.
