Swansea hopes to seal Ki deal

Ki Sung-yueng (Yonhap News)

LONDON (AFP) ― Swansea manager Michael Laudrup is confident of completing the club-record signing of South Korea midfielder Ki Sung-yueng from Celtic on Friday.

Laudrup’s club have agreed a fee of around 6 million pounds with the Scottish champions for Ki, who helped his country win a bronze medal at the London Olympics.

The 23-year-old, who has yet to return to Celtic this season as he tries to secure a move, will travel to south Wales for a medical and contract talks and Laudrup expects the deal to be done before the weekend.

Former Barcelona and Real Madrid star Laudrup, whose side won 5-0 at QPR in the opening weekend of the Premier League season, believes Ki is a vital addition to Swansea’s squad after the loss of Wales international Joe Allen to Liverpool

“The contract is not signed yet. I would like to wait before everything is signed and sealed but the deal should go through. He is an important player for us to have in the midfield,” Laudrup said.

Spanish Super Cup

BARCELONA (AP) ― Barcelona rallied to beat Real Madrid 3-2 Thursday night in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, giving Tito Vilanova a victory in his first game as a head coach against Jose Mourinho.

Cristiano Ronaldo put the defending La Liga champions ahead in the 55th minute with a header off a corner kick, only for Pedro Rodriguez to tie the score one minute later for the Copa del Rey winner.

Lionel Messi converted a penalty kick in the 70th minute after Sergio Ramos tripped Andres Iniesta, and Iniesta fed Xavi Hernandez for a 3-1 lead in the 78th, delighting a crowd of 91,728.