McLaren signals intent at Wolfsburg with €10m Kjaer capture
Published:Steve McLaren has started his tenure at Wolfsburg with intent, having completed the €10m signing of Palermo’s highly-rated Danish central defender Simon Kjaer.
Kjaer has signed a four-year deal, and he joins an improving defence already boosted by the arrival of Germany’s World Cup centre-back Arne Friedrich.
With such a strong backline, and an attack boasting the much-coveted Edin Dzeko and Grafite, Wolfsburg could be worth backing at 3/1 to qualify for the Champions League this season.
You can also bet on Steve McLaren to win the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg before the end of 2014 at the tempting price of 5/1.
Wolfsburg’s league rivals Bayern Munich, meanwhile, are about to strengthen their already impressive squad with the signing of Holland full-back Gregory Van Der Wiel.
The 22-year-old is close to joining last season’s Champions League runners-up from Ajax in a deal believed to be worth around €17m.
And with Franck Ribery, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Arjen Robben already among their ranks, Bayern are a tempting 14/1 to win this season’s Champions League.
Elsewhere in Europe, Barcelona have sold defender Dmytro Chygrynskiy back to Shakhtar Donetsk for €15m, a year after paying the same club €25m for the Ukrainian defender.
Chygrynskiy found first-team opportunities to be scarce in a squad including Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and Gabriel Milito, and Barca are unlikely to be weakened by his departure.
The Catalan giants’ biggest signing of the summer to date is David Villa, and if he can replicate his Spain form at the Nou Camp, Barcelona will be strong contenders at 4/5 to win the Primera Liga.
Who will be Barca’s main rivals? Real Madrid are evens to win the Primera Liga. See the full Primera Liga market.
