Salgado parts ways

BLACKBURN: Real Madrid defender Michel Salgado on Wednesday signed a two-season deal with Blackburn, the English Premier League club announced. Blackburn are now waiting for international clearance before the 33-year-old can make his debut. During his time at the Bernabeu, the 33-year-old helped the club to two European Cup triumphs and four league titles. Salgado, capped 53 times for his country, arrived at Real from Celta Vigo in 1999. — AFP

Matic joins Chelsea

LONDON: Chelsea signed Serbian midfielder Nemanja Matic from Slovakian team MFK Kosice in a deal worth $2.4 million on Tuesday. The 21-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge on a four-year contract. Matic has prior experience of life in England, having taken in a trial at Middlesbrough in January, but is hoping his second spell will be more pleasant that the first. “I was there in the winter, when I came it was winter in the north of England so it was not very nice, but the squad was okay and I liked it,” he said. — AFP

Ashbee out injured

HULL: Hull captain Ian Ashbee will be sidelined for nine months after suffering a setback in his recovery from a knee injury. Ashbee aggrevated the long-term problem playing against Aston Villa in a Premier League match in May. It had been feared that the 32-year-old may be forced to retire, but he will travel to the US for surgery next week in the hope of curing the problem. Ashbee has been at Hull since 2002 and has played for the club all four divisions of the English league. — AFP

Lehmann set to retire

BERLIN: Former Germany and Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is to finally hang up his gloves after a near two-decade career at the end of the season. Lehmann, who turns 40 in November, will see out his contract with Stuttgart, the club he joined after a long spell with Arsenal, and then retire, he announced on Tuesday. The veteran stopper has 61 international caps to his name, appearing at the 2006 World Cup and at Euro 2008. It was after Germany lost in the Euro 2008 final to Spain that he announced his retirement from the national team. — AFP