MALAGA READY TO SIGN BRAZILIAN DIEGO

Malaga are reportedly ready to offer Wolfsburg's want-away playmaker Diego a way out of the club.

After a largely disastrous spell with Juventus in Serie A, Diego returned to the Germany with Wolfsburg at the start of last season and was expected to shine, having previously played in the Bundesliga with Werder Bremen.

Instead, his season was ruined with poor form and ill discipline; culminated by a row with manager Felix Magath after the Brazilian midfielder refused to sit on the bench after being named as a substitute for a league match, storming off before the game.

Diego has since revealed he is ready to leave the club and would even consider a return to Brazil, but according to reports, Malaga are ready to take a gamble on the 26-year-old.

Malaga have been financially competent since the 2010 takeover by Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani, who has grand plans for the club whom he hopes can soon test the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga.

The club's objective has been highlighted by their recruiting plans so far this summer, with a host of reputed names already arriving at La Rosaleda.

Dutch internationals Ruud van Nistelrooy and Joris Mathijsen were early arrivals, before the club landed veteran French international Jeremy Toulalan from Lyon.

Ex-Spain star Joaquin soon followed, before up-and-coming left-back Nacho Monreal and Argentinean starlet Diego Buonanotte followed suit.

Should Diego arrive at Malaga as well, the club could be on the verge of assembling a squad capable of challenging for La Liga glory in the years to come.

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MOURINHO:"ADEBAYOR CLOSER TO MADRID "

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho admitted he is closer to signing Emmanuel Adebayor than Neymar or Sergio Aguero.

The Portuguese has revealed his plans to bring a new attacker to the Bernabeu before the start of the season to compliment Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain.

Two strikers who are heavily linked to the Los Blancos are Santos' Wonder-kid Neymar and Atletico Madrids' Aguero.

But Mourinho has admitted there's a stronger possibility he will sign Adebayor, who enjoyed a productive spell with Madrid on loan from Manchester City last season.

"Neymar is a Santos player, Aguero belongs to Atletico Madrid... Adebayor is at Manchester City, but perhaps he is closer because he was our player for six months," Mourinho said at a press conference.

"We should not be very distant from those names, but I am calm because we have a fantastic squad and we are in a very good situation."

Real Madrid kick-off their La Liga campaign at home to Athletic Bilbao on 21 August.

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WOLVES SIGNED FORMER BIRMINGHAM DEFENDER

Wolves unveiled Birmingham central defender Roger Johnson as their third signing of the summer in a deal £7million.

Wolves arranged a press conference at their Compton training ground on Wednesday to announce the signing of the former Cardiff player on a four year deal.

Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has been tracking Johnson since the end of season when Birmingham's relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.

Johnson moved from Cardiff to St. Andrew's during the summer of 2009 in a £5million deal and formed an successful partnership with Scott Dann during his two years at Birmingham .

McCarthy will hope Johnson can help to strengthen a defence which was guilty of leaking too many soft goals last season.

The deal takes the Wolves boss' spending to £12million this summer, with midfielder Jamie O'Hara having moved from Tottenham in a £5million deal.

Shot stopper Dorus de Vries moved to Molineux from Swansea on a Bosman transfer.

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TORRES SCORED IN A FRIENDLY AGAINST WYCOMBE

Fernando Torres helped Andre Villas-Boas to a winning start to his Chelsea reign with a goal in a close-door friendly win against Wycombe Wanderers.

The £50million signing from Liverpool has just scored one goal for the Blues since his arrival in January.

Torres scored his second goal for Chelsea with a well taken goal to double his side's lead early in the second-half.

Former Liverpool midfielder Yossi Benayoun opened the scoring after just four minutes with a wonderful chip over the Wycombe goalkeeper.

Defender Slobodan Rajkovic volleyed a Yuri Zhirkov corner to wrap up proceedings with a third goal.

The match was Villas-Boas' first look at his Chelsea squad in action since being appointed the new manager at Stamford Bridge.

And he was delighted with his side's winning start to their pre-season training - even more so with Torres getting on the score sheet.

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JOHN ARNE RIISE SIGNS FULHAM

Fulham have completed the signing of Roma defender John Arne Riise for an undisclosed fee.

The former Liverpool left-back has signed a three-year deal at Craven Cottage and will join with his brother Bjorn Helge in west London.

Riise has spent the past three seasons in Serie A with Roma, after departing from Anfield in 2008.

The 30-year-old made more than 230 appearances for the Merseysiders after joining them from Monaco in 2001 and the full-back admits it is great to be back in England.

"I'm delighted to have completed my transfer to Fulham this morning [Wednesday] and am looking forward to playing in the Premier League once again," he told fulhamfc.com.

"Fulham is a club that I have been following as my brother, Bjorn, plays here and he speaks very highly of the club and the staff.

"Obviously I also played against the club in the Europa League group stage when they went on to reach the final of the competition.

"I know that the club is ambitious and continues to make good progress each year, under the guidance of the chairman, Mohamed Al Fayed.

"I am looking forward to working with Martin Jol and the rest of the squad when I report to training next week."

The Norway international is the second signing of Martin Jol, following the arrival of Hungarian goalkeeper Csaba Somogyi earlier this week.

"John Arne Riise is an experienced international left-back, who will bring a number of qualities to our squad and provide more options for me," said Jol.

"He is used to performing at the very highest level for both club and country and is an accomplished player defensively, who can also contribute to our attacking play.

"I am extremely happy that we've been able to add him to our squad, and believe that he will prove a valuable addition as we progress."

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