Football transfer roundup: Toure to Liverpool, Carvalho to Monaco

TOURE TO LIVERPOOL Cote d’Ivoire defender Kolo Toure has reached an agreement with English Premier League side Liverpool that he will join the team when his contract with Manchester City expires on 1 July. The 32-year-old Toure joined City from Arsenal in 2009 and was joined at the club by his younger brother Yaya Toure a year later, reports Xinhua. Kolo Toure had been banned for six months in 2011 as he failed a drug test and lost his place at City. He claimed he had taken diet pills belonging to his wife and did not know they contained banned substances. CARVALHO SIGNS FOR BIG-SPENDING MONACO Former Real Madrid defender Ricardo Carvalho signed a contract to join big-spending French side AS Monaco. [caption id=“attachment_824783” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Toure has reached an agreement with Liverpool that he will join the team when his contract with City expires. Getty Images[/caption] Carvalho arrives for nothing after the end of the third season of the 35-year-old’s contract with Real Madrid and he has agreed on a one year deal with the option of a second year, reports Xinhua. The central defender has also played for Porto and Chelsea and will bring a wealth of experience to the club which has just returned to France’s Ligue 1. Carvalho is the third new arrival at Monaco at the end of the current season and will join Porto duo Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez, who arrived for a total fee of 70 million euros. The trio will soon be joined by Atletico Madrid’s Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who is on the verge of signing a four or five-year contract with the club. Falcao is expected to cost Monaco a further 60 million euros as the club, which is coached by the experienced Claudio Ranieri, looks to challenge Paris Saint-Germain. PASTATHOPOULOS JOINS DORTMUND Greek international and former Werder Bremen defender Sokratis Pastathopoulos joined league rivals Borussia Dortmund until 2018. The 24-year-old centre-back agreed to put pen-to-paper Tuesday for a five-year deal with Champions League finalist Dortmund. “We are pleased that Sokratis opted for Borussia Dortmund. He is flexible and can play on various position of the defence. Besides we see great potential in him,” Dortmund’s director of sport Michael Zorc said. DORTMUND’S SANTANA HEADED TO SCHALKE Dortmund’s defender Felipe Santana joined rival club Schalke, signing a three-year deal. Schalke reinforce their defence when they signed the centre-back Tuesday until 2016 to replace retired Christoph Metzelder, reports Xinhua. Santana joined Dortmund from Brazilian side Figueirense in 2008. Since then he has scored six goals in 95 appearances for the BVB. In addition, he won the Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012, as well as the DFB Pokal (German Cup). Dortmund’s supporters will keep him in good memory as he scored the winning goal in the dying seconds of the match at the Champions League quarterfinals against Malaga. IANS