Brazilian defender Andre Santos has left Arsenal to join Flamengo on a permanent deal.

The left-back will return to his home country after two years at Arsenal in which he struggled for regular football.

Flamengo coach Mano Menezes, formerly in charge of Brazil, spoke earlier this week about his desire to sign Santos.

And his chase was confirmed as successful on Saturday, when Arsenal released a brief statement on their official website.

Arsenal Football Club can confirm that Brazilian left-back Andre Santos has joined Flamengo in a permanent deal, it read.

Everybody at Arsenal would like to thank Andre for his contribution to the club and wish him well for his future career.

The 30-year-old, who joined the Emirates Stadium outfit from Fenerbahce in …

Tottenham have completed the signingof Newcastle centre-back Sebastien Bassong after the 23-year-old defender passed a medical and agreed personal terms.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp made an eight million pound bid for Bassong on Thursday after learning that centre-backs Michael Dawson, Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King were all likely to miss the start of the season.

I like him very much. He is young with a good future, Redknapp said Thursday.

The chairman (Daniel Levy) is talking. I don t get involved on that side of it. I identify a player and the chairman does everything else.

Bassong joined Newcastle from French club Metz in July 2008 and produced some impressive displays despite his club s relegation.

But he will miss the first two games of…

Stoke City midfielder Glenn Whelan is targeting more goals after being deployed in a more attacking role under new manager Mark Hughes.

The 29-year-old has not featured on the score sheet for the Premier League outfit since notching in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers in November 2011.

Having been played in a more defensive role under previous boss Tony Pulis, the former Sheffield Wednesday player is keen to have more of an attacking impetus this season.

A manager picks you to do a certain role and I went in there to do a job which I was asked to do, Whelan told The Sentinel.

If I can pitch in and score, which I would like to do and have done previously, then so be it.

The Republic of Ireland international believes the Stoke squad is adapting well to the c…

Per Mertesacker believes Arsenal s pre-season preparations have brought them closer and made them stronger ahead of the new campaign.

The 28-year-old was a member of Arsenal’s squad on their recent Asia tour, which brought four wins from as many games, two of which were by a margin of six or more goals.

Arsene Wenger may well be in confident mood after seeing his side beat Premier League rivals Manchester City 3-1 in Helsinki on Saturday.

It has been a first full pre-season for Mertesacker with the London club, having signed on deadline day in 2011 and spending much of last season’s preparations injured, and the Germany international is enthused by what he has seen so far.

We ve had a longer pre-season and more time to know each other better, to prepare ourse…

Antoine Griezmann said he cried tears of joy after his transfer to LaLiga champions Barcelona was finalised.

Griezmann left Atletico Madrid for Barca after the Spanish giants triggered the French World Cup winner s €120million release clause.

The transfer ended months of speculation following Griezmann s announcement that he was departing Atletico after five years.

Reflecting on his move to Barca, Griezmann told Marca: I called my father and I started to cry with happiness because I was there, everything was done.

I was with my friends, my wife and my children and it was an incredible moment.

I just wanted to end my holiday and start this new challenge, he said. The dressing room have welcomed me very well: players, coaching staff and doctors…

Ernesto Valverde confirmed a new left-back is on Barcelona s wishlist and said the door would remain open for new arrivals until the transfer window closes.

LaLiga champions Barca want to find support for Jordi Alba and are reportedly moving closer to signing Junior Firpo from Real Betis.

Philipp Max of Augsburg is said to be an alternative, while Bayern Munich star David Alaba figured in rumours as a less realistic option.

Neto, Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann have all joined since the end of the 2018-19 season and Barca s business appears unlikely to end there.

It is true that we had some problems on the left side [of defence] and it is possible that somebody may arrive, head coach Valverde said.

But we are open to the market until the …

Newcastle United have been ordered to pay all of Kevin Keegan s costs after their former manager s victory in a constructive dismissal case a total which could reach 1.5 million pounds.

Former England boss Keegan left the north-east club in September 2008 after they signed Uruguayan midfielder Ignacio Gonzalez against his wishes.

This month an arbitration tribunal found in Keegan s favour and on Wednesday ordered the club to pay costs and interest on the two million pounds compensation award dating back to September last year.

It was another success for Keegan over Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, who claimed the former Liverpool, Newcastle and England striker had breached his contract.

The tribunal added Newcastle had also made entirely unfounded allegation…

Thiago Martins scored an own goal and was sent off as MLS Cup champions New York City snapped their three-game losing run with a 1-1 home draw with Cincinnati on Wednesday.

It was a dramatic evening for Martins who inexplicably back-passed the ball into his own net in the 22nd minute with goalkeeper Sean Johnson well off his line.

It went from bad to worse for Martins in the 76th minute when he was sent off for a last-man foul for City, who had lost six of their previous seven games coming into the clash at Citi Field.

Martins foul was originally deemed a penalty but that was changed to a free-kick following VAR consultation to ease some pain for the Brazilian defender, who became only the second player in MLS history to score an own goal and get sent off in the …

Chelsea midfielder Oscar has labelled their next UEFA Champions League fixture with Steaua Bucharest as a must-win game.

The Brazil international s comments came after Chelsea s surprise 2-1 defeat to Basel on Wednesday, the club s first home defeat in a Champions League group game in a decade.

Oscar had opened the scoring for Jose Mourinho s side in the closing moments of the first half before goals from Mohamed Salah and Marco Streller turned the match on its head.

The 22-year-old insists the 2011-12 Champions League winners must improve when they travel to take on the Romanian champions next month.

It is bad to lose, but I think we played well, he said. In the first half we were good, and we started the second half very well too.

Their goal destabilised…