Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/547695
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 29 JULY 2015 20 BAYERN Munich have completed the long-anticipated transfer of Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal from Italian champions Juventus on a four-year contract. Italian media reports suggested Bayern paid 36 million euros ($39.5 million), rising to 40 million eu- ros ($44 million) with bonuses, to bring the 28-year-old Vidal back to the Bundesliga. Vidal scored 15 goals and set up 21 more in 117 league games over four seasons for Bayer Leverkusen before leaving for Juventus in 2011. The rugged midfielder is expected to fill the gap left by the departure of Bastian Schweinsteiger for Man- chester United, and to give Pep Guardiola's team more toughness. Vidal was brought to Germany at age 20 from Chilean club Colo- Colo by then Leverkusen squad director Michael Reschke. Reschke ended his 35-year association with Leverkusen when Bayern appoint- ed him as a director in June. Vidal helped Juventus to four consecutive Serie A titles and, last season, the Coppa Italia. Barcelona denied the club a treble by winning the Champions League final be- tween them in Berlin. He reached a deal with prosecu- tors to avoid trial after crashing his Ferrari while driving under the in- fluence of alcohol early in the tour- nament on June 16. He apologized for insulting a police officer and agreed to pay compensation to a driver involved in the crash. Vidal is on a 10-man shortlist for the best player in Europe. Of Juven- tus' five players nominated for the UEFA award, only goalkeeper Gi- anluigi Buffon and midfielder Paul Pogba remain. Andrea Pirlo and Carlos Tevez have left the club. He told Bayern's official website: "I'm very happy. This is a new step in my career and I want to help the team and win trophies. It's a dream come true for me personally. "I wanted to take another big step forward in my career. I want to keep developing as a player and win important trophies like the Cham- pions League. I think the best op- portunity to do so is with Bayern. "We weren't a long way off win- ning all three competitions last season. I hope we can pull it off with Bayern. That has to be the target." Vidal has previously played in the Bundesliga, having been a key fig- ure in Bayer Leverkusen's successes between 2007 and 2011 when they won the German Cup and finished runners-up in the league. He added: "I'm thrilled about playing in the Bundesliga again and obviously hope to win it this time. I didn't manage it with Leverkusen back then, but with Bayern there's a very, very good chance." Vidal moved to Juventus in 2011 and won four consecutive Serie A titles and was the club's player of the season in 2012-13. He was named man of the match in the Copa America final against Argentina as Chile won their first major honour in a penalty shoot- out. Sport SPORTTODAY FOOTBALL Michel Platini to announce FIFA presidency bid Michel Platini is set to declare he will run for the FIFA presidency this week PLATINI, the UEFA president, held further talks with football powerbrokers at the 2018 World Cup draw in St Petersburg at the weekend and is now confident he has the support necessary to win. It is understood a letter to na- tional associations declaring his intentions has already been pre- pared ready to send out when he announces his candidacy. The election to succeed Sepp Blatter will take place on February 26 in Zurich. The 60-year-old Platini is the favourite to succeed Blatter in the election on February 26 after gain- ing the backing of four of the six FIFA confederations, including the powerful Asia bloc. Platini has publicly stated he vot- ed for Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, and although the award of that tournament to the Gulf state has caused huge controversy, in FIFA terms his backing for Qatar is likely to be an advantage. A credible opponent to Platini has yet to emerge - former Argen- tina player Diego Maradona and ex-Brazil player Zico have both stated they want to stand, but nei- ther would command significant support. Other names in the frame in- clude Chung Mong-joon, a former FIFA vice-president from South Korea, and Prince Ali Bin Al Hus- sein of Jordan, who was beaten by Blatter in the election in May. Both of those however would suf- fer from the leaders of the Asian Football Confederation having al- ready pledged to give their support to Platini. If Platini is successful, the ques- tion of who would take over the UEFA presidency would then arise. England's David Gill, who sits on FIFA and UEFA's execu- tive committees, is very unlikely to want the position which leaves Germany's Wolfgang Niersbach as the favourite. Spain's Angel Villar Llona is un- derstood to still harbour ambitions for the UEFA presidency but he is still under investigation by FIFA's ethics committee over Spain's bid for the 2018 World Cup. Michel Platini Bayern Munich sign Chile midfielder Vidal from Juventus New Bayern Munich signing Arturo Vidal poses with club president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge