PARIS -- Dimitar Berbatov joined Monaco from Fulham on Friday in the latest chapter of the mercurial forwards career on an otherwise quiet final day of the transfer window in France. Monaco is challenging fellow big-spender Paris Saint-Germain for the French title and needed to sign a striker to compensate for Colombia striker Radamel Falcaos long-term injury. Falcao is expected to miss the rest of the season after tearing a ligament in his left knee on Jan. 22. "Im happy, excited, and a little bit nervous to be honest," the 33-year-old Berbatov said. "Im looking forward to training with my new teammates and to open a new chapter in my career." Berbatov shone in spells for Manchester United, Tottenham and Fulham, scoring 94 league goals in 229 league games. Prior to that, he netted 69 goals in 154 league games for German side Bayer Leverkusen. He also scored 48 goals in 77 matches for Bulgaria before retiring from the national team. "Dimitar will bring us all his experience and talent. Of course, his arrival is connected to Falcaos injury," Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev said. "Hes played in big clubs such as Manchester United and hes a great striker. We still have two competitions to play in and he will be an asset." Monaco also reinforced its defence by signing centre half Aymen Abdennour on loan from Toulouse until the end of the season, with an option to buy the Tunisia international. Meanwhile, having spent the off-season trying to sell key players in order to raise funds, Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas spent the last hours of the January transfer window turning down bids. Lyons highly-rated midfielder Clement Grenier chose not to move to Newcastle, which is trying to replace Yohan Cabaye after selling him to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Newcastle coach Alan Pardew had spoken about Grenier in glowing terms and the club was in advanced talks with Lyon. "Ive decided to stay with Lyon and, for me, the best place to be is Lyon," Grenier said Friday. "I had no intention of leaving this winter. We still have a lot of things we want to achieve, both collectively and individually -- with a view to the World Cup. Its the best thing for my personal improvement." There were also offers for striker Bafetimbi Gomis, who will be out of contract at the end of the season and who Aulas desperately tried to sell in August, while the player steadfastly refused to go. Marseille right back Rod Fanni also knocked back a chance to join Queens Park Rangers, which plays in Englands second-tier Championship, according to La Provence newspaper. Midfielder Joshua Guilavogui and former Bordeaux left back Benoit Tremoulinas joined Saint-Etienne on loan from Atletico Madrid and Dynamo Kyiv respectively. Saint-Etienne has an option to buy Tremoulinas for (euro)4 million ($5.4 million) at the end of the season. Nantes signed striker Itay Shechter on loan from Hapoel Tel Aviv with an option to sign him for two years. The Israel forward scored 33 league goals in 61 games during his Hapoel career. .The seventh-seeded Raonic was scheduled to play U.S. Open finalist Kei Nishikori of Japan, but was replaced in the Group B pool by Spanish substitute David Ferrer.Raonic, who was 0-2 at the year-end event, said he suffered the injury late in the first set of Tuesdays 6-3, 7-6 loss to Murray. .Y. - Brooklyn Nets centre Brook Lopez has a strained lower back and will miss at least a week.
http://www.officialbruinsfanstore.com/a ... ns-jersey/. Wade is posting a short film on his website next week, with a sneak preview scheduled to come out Wednesday. .In the Football Money League compiled by accountancy firm Deloitte, German champion Bayern Munich remained third but Barcelona dropped from second to fourth during its trophyless 2014.In the 2013-2014 financial year, Real generated 549. . According to a police report, Douglas is accused of grabbing his girlfriend by the neck and slamming her against the wall several times while he carried her from the elevator to their Hartford hotel room early Sunday morning.Groups E takes centre stage at the 2014 FIFA World Cup on TSN Radio Wednesday. France faces Ecuador with first place in the group all but locked up while Ecuador looks to hold off Switzerland for second in the group. Go to TSN Radios World Cup schedule for broadcast details on both matchups. Ecuador aiming for victory against France (TSN 1050, TSN 690, TSN 1260 and TEAM 1410) Ecuadors hopes of advancing to the knockout round will come down to 90 minutes at the Maracana on Wednesday when the nation faces France. La Tri has taken three points from its first two games in Group E, opening the tournament with a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Switzerland before coming from behind to get a win over Honduras by the same score. Next up for the South American nation is France, which sits atop the group thanks to its comfortable 3-0 and 5-2 wins over Honduras and Switzerland, respectively. And with Switzerland simultaneously squaring off with a Honduran side that has nothing to play for on Wednesday, Ecuador is anticipating that it will need to defeat Les Bleus in order to advance to the knockout round for just the second time in history. Given Frances strong offensive displays thus far, Ecuador could be poised to absorb the attack and hit the European side on the counter. "(France) scored eight goals in one match (an 8-0 thumping of Jamaica in a warm-up match)," Ecuador midfielder Christian Noboa said.dddddddddddd"Scoring a goal in a World Cup is difficult and scoring eight, that gives you a guide to what France are all about." The one saving grace that could make things easier for Ecuador is the fact that France already has secured a spot in the knockout round. That affords France coach Didier Deschamps the luxury of potentially deploying a weaker team with the intent of resting some key players. But according to star striker Karim Benzema, who has netted three goals in the tournament, France will go for it against Ecuador. "Were very pleased with the performance and well try to repeat it against Ecuador," the 26-year-old said after the convincing defeat of Switzerland. While France holds a major edge over its Group E opposition when it comes to goal difference, Les Bleus will have plenty of incentive to get at least a draw on Wednesday as the winner of Group E would likely avoid playing Argentina in the round of 16. "Weve got a good goal difference, and the third match will decide who finishes top and second in the group," Deschamps said. "We prepared well for the first two games, and weve played in an efficient manner. This is still the first part of the tournament. We need to finish the job against Ecuador, and then well be in a very different kind of competition." ' ' '
