Arsenal land backup goalie Runarsson

LONDON • Arsenal have signed Iceland goalkeeper Runar Alex Runarsson from Ligue 1 club Dijon on a four-year deal, the Premier League club said on Monday.

British media reported that the Gunners paid £1.5 million (S$2.6 million) for the 25-year-old, who played 13 games in all competitions for Dijon last season.

Runarsson joins the north London football club as a backup to first-choice goalkeeper Bernd Leno following the departure of Emiliano Martinez to Aston Villa.

REUTERS

Barcelona offload Vidal to Inter for €1m

MILAN • Inter Milan have reached an agreement with Barcelona to sign Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal for €1 million (S$1.6 million) on a permanent deal, the two football clubs announced yesterday.

Vidal, who joined Barca from Bayern Munich in 2018, will be reunited with Inter coach Antonio Conte, who signed him for Juventus in 2011 and where he stayed until 2015.

REUTERS

Wawrinka parts ways with long-time coach

PARIS • Stan Wawrinka announced on Monday that he was separating from his coach Magnus Norman "by mutual consent", putting an end to eight years of collaboration during which the Swiss won his three tennis Grand Slam tournaments.

Wawrinka, now 35, ranked as high as third in the world in 2014 when he won the Australian Open, before going on to win at Roland Garros the following year and the US Open in 2016.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Authorities quiz French rugby chief

PARIS • French rugby federation (FFR) president Bernard Laporte was questioned yesterday over his links with billionaire Montpellier owner Mohed Altrad, sources in the investigation said.

Laporte, who is also World Rugby vice-chairman, is suspected of pressuring the appeals committee of the French league to reduce a disciplinary punishment against Montpellier. He is accused of favouritism after it emerged a company he owns had signed an image rights contract with the Altrad Group, which now sponsors the France national team, in early 2017.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE