German champions Bayern Munich hit three second-half goals as they beat French titlists Paris Saint-Germain, 3-1, yesterday in a friendly in Klagenfurt, Austria. PSG were without their World Cup winners, but they did start Adrien Rabiot, who refused to serve as a reserve for the French squad. Bayern were without their legion of German internationals, despite the national team’s early exit in Russia.
PSG had the best of the first half and took the lead with a 31st minute goal by American Timothy Weah, the 18-year-old son of African legend George Weah.
Bayern dominated the second half and struck three times in 18 minutes. Spaniard Javier Martinez opened the scoring past Gianluigi Buffon, the Italian veteran who joined PSG this summer. Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanchez and 17-year-old Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee added the other two, after Buffon had gone off.

Watford’s Cleverley to miss start of season
Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley will miss the start of the new Premier League season after Achilles surgery. Cleverley went under the knife to fix the long-standing issue and the 28-year-old hopes to return to action after the early weeks of the campaign.
“This is something I’ve put up with during my career, so it’s good to get it sorted,” Cleverley said. “I had been used to playing with pain in my ankle. Now that’s going to be a thing of the past, I’ll be fit and raring to win my place back once I’ve finished my rehab.” The former Manchester United youth academy graduate joined Watford last year, having failed to establish himself at Everton. Cleverley has won 13 England caps, but hasn’t played for his country since November 2013.

Milan names new chairman after Elliott takes control
AC Milan said yesterday a former oil company boss had been put in charge of the top-ranked Italian soccer club while it searched for a new chief executive, after US fund Elliott took control. AC Milan said Paolo Scaroni, the longtime CEO of Italian oil group Eni and now deputy chairman of investment bank Rothschild, had been named as executive chairman and would take on interim management of the club. His appointment was announced as the club named a new board. CEO Marco Fassone, who was hired last year by the club’s former Chinese owners, has stepped down with immediate effect. Elliott took over the indebted soccer club after Yonghong Li, who last year had bought AC Milan from former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, failed to honour a repayment that was due to the US fund.
AC Milan said the board would meet again shortly to discuss a new business plan and define a strategy to regain Champions League status. The loss-making club is second only to Real Madrid in the list of winners of Europe’s top club competition, but it has failed to win any major silverware since 2011.
Elliott has committed to a 50mn euro ($59mn)capital injection, prompting the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday to overturn a decision by European soccer body UEFA to ban AC Milan from the next Europa League competition due to its poor finances. “This is a critical moment in the club’s storied history, and we’re all grateful to have a new owner committed to return AC Milan to its former glory,” Scaroni said in the statement.

Dyche unconcerned by Burnley’s transfer inactivity

Burnley’s lack of new signings in the transfer window does not faze manager Sean Dyche, who says the club have “been down this road before”. The Lancashire outfit are one of only three Premier League teams yet to add to their squad, along with Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, and despite media reports linking several players with a move to Turf Moor, a deal is yet to materialise. Burnley have thrived despite their financial limitations, with Dyche leading the team to seventh place last season. “There’s lots of different changes in the market every window, it seems,” Dyche said.
“The bar got set high here with one of the first domestic transfers with James Maddison going (from Norwich City) to Leicester... I think that pushed the boundaries and then it’s a knock-on effect — everyone wants everything they can get. It does make it difficult but it’s not new to us, we’ve been down this road before.”
Burnley open their season with the first leg of their Europa League second qualifying-round tie against Aberdeen on July 26, two weeks before the Premier League’s transfer deadline on Aug. 9. Their league campaign begins on Aug. 12, when they visit Southampton. While Dyche is not worried about his thin squad, the English boss says the rising transfer fees is a concern for every club in the league. “Teams are waiting and waiting to push the margins,” he added.
“Clubs that do get the money in, you know they’ve got to put it back out there. It’s just tough for everyone — it’s not just us, by the way. We have our challenges, we know that — it’s well documented about our financial model compared to others — but it doesn’t make it easy for anyone.”

Leicester sign goalkeeper Ward from Liverpool
Leicester City have signed goalkeeper Danny Ward from Liverpool on a four-year contract, both clubs confirmed on Friday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but British media reported Leicester paid around 12.5 million pounds ($16.41 million) for the 25-year-old.
Ward, who joined Liverpool from Wrexham in January 2012, made only three first-team appearances for the Merseyside club, and was the third-choice keeper behind Loris Karius and Simon Mignolet last season.
Ward, capped four times by Wales, will compete with first-choice Kasper Schmeichel and Eldin Jakupovic in manager Claude Puel’s squad. Leicester kick off their Premier League campaign with n away game against Manchester United on Aug. 10.