Old Lady win Super Cup

Juventus clinched the Italian Super Cup with a 4-2 extra-time victory in an emotionally-charged encounter against Napoli in China.

 Last season's Coppa Italia winners Napoli took the lead through Edinson Cavani in the 27th minute before Kwadwo Asamoah levelled and Goran Pandev restored Napoli's advantage before the interval.

 Arturo Vidal levelled from the penalty spot before Napoli lost Pandev, Juan Zuniga and coach Walter Mazzarri to red cards towards the end of the 90 minutes.

 An own goal from Christian Maggio and a further strike from Mirko Vucinic clinched victory for the Serie A champions in extra-time.

 Juve, with Massimo Carrera on the bench in place of Antonio Conte, who has been suspended for 10 months pending an appeal, began the game brightly in the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing.

 Sebastian Giovinco soon settled into his new role in the Juve attack and created a few openings before Napoli scored against the run of play.

 Cavani put Mazzarri's side in front in the 27th minute when he beat the offside trap and then kept his cool to beat Gianluigi Buffon.

 Juve equalised 10 minutes later with new arrival from Udinese Asamoah scoring his first goal for the club with a finely-executed volley from the edge of the area.

 Parity lasted only four minutes, though, before Pandev restored Napoli's lead.

 Leonardo Bonucci initially lost possession, but the Macedonian's lobbed finish took more credit than the Juventus defender's error could take blame as an efficient Napoli regained the advantage before half time. That goal was almost cancelled out immediately in the second half when Mirko Vucinic's shot was pushed onto the crossbar by Morgan de Sanctis.

 Vucinic got round De Sanctis on the hour mark, but Paolo Cannavaro covered to defend the Napoli goal as the defending Serie A champions started to raise their game.

 They got their reward in the 73rd minute when substitute Federico Fernandez fouled Vucinic inside the area and Vidal converted the penalty.

 The game opened up and the tension increased, so much so that Pandev vented his anger at a linesman and was swiftly sent off. Zuniga followed him into the dressing room in stoppage time when he picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Giovinco.

 It was all too much for Mazzarri, who was sent off for his protests as the teams prepared for extra time.

 Napoli could no longer control their emotions and Juve capitalised to take the lead seven minutes into extra time when Maggio headed Andrea Pirlo's free-kick into his own goal before Juve sealed victory through Vucinic in the 101st minute of the game.

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Napoli looking to make a swoop on Chelsea’s overcrowded midfield

Napoli are looking to take advantage of Chelsea’s increasingly-growing midfield contingent, with the Serie A side in discussions with the Blues over a cut-price deal for Portuguese international Raul Meireles.

 Meireles has already played for three different clubs in the last two years, having first moved to Liverpool from Porto for £10.2 million in 2010, and then again to Chelsea the following season for a fee of around £12 million.

 However, despite making a total of 45 appearances for the Blues in the previous season, the 29-year old’s future is again at risk after manager Roberto di Matteo’s spending spree over the summer.

 Meireles does not want to fall behind in the Chelsea pecking order and warm the bench at Stamford Bridge, while Di Matteo could help the Blues’ rising wage bill by offloading the Portuguese international.

 Napoli, who have been monitoring Meireles’ situation all summer, have been alerted by this, with manager Walter Mazzarri keen on adding the heavily experienced midfielder to his side.

 The Partenopei have money to burn as well, having sold striker Ezequiel Lavezzi to PSG earlier in the summer, and are ready to part with £8 million for the central midfielder.

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Napoli slaps £78m price-tag on Cavani to ward off Chelsea interest

Edinson Cavani will cost Chelsea £78million if they wish to prise him away from Napoli, club president Aurelio de Laurentiis has announced.

 Cavani is one of the options being considered by Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo as he looks to fill the gaping hole left by Didier Drogba.

 Cavani fits the bill perfectly after he netted 33 goals in 47 games for the second successive campaign.

 But De Laurentiis has warned the Blues they will have to shell-out the huge figure to convince Napoli to part company with their star striker.

 'Cavani is not for sale, but we could let him go for €100m (£78m),' he told reporters. 'This is not his actual value, but his value to me and he won't leave for less.'

 Once the capture of attacking midfielder Oscar is complete, the Blues will look to complete two more deals — expected to be a centre forward and a right back — before the transfer window closes.

 Cavani, 25, who is also on the Juventus wanted list, has been watched by Chelsea for some time and scored against them in the Champions League last season.

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Napoli to take on Chelsea for Porto star

Chelsea will face competition from Serie A side Napoli to secure the services of Porto full-back Alvaro Pereira. 

Pereira, 26, was expected to follow former Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas from Porto to Stamford Bridge last summer, but that move failed to materialise. 

And despite penning a new long-term deal with the Portuguese club at the close of the last transfer window, Pereira has already indicated his willingness to entertain any offers that come his way this summer. 

With the departure of Jose Bosingwa, Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is expected to be on the hunt for a new right-back, and Pereira is still believed to be on the club's shortlist, despite the exit of Villa-Boas. 

However, Italian publication Tuttosport claim Napoli have already sounded out the player's agent over a £12.8 move for the full-back.

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Edinson Cavani is worth €70m

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed that he is willing to sell star striker Edinson Cavani, but only if a €70 million bid comes in for him.

 The Uruguay international has been strongly with Juventus in recent times as the Bianconeri look to strengthen their attack in the summer.

 De Laurentiis has admitted that he is prepared to part company with Cavani, but warned all interested parties that they must be ready to break the bank to land the 25-year-old.

 "Cavani? I would like to say that my intention is to sell him," he told reporters. "Sure, if someone comes up with €70m for him..." Cavani, who joined Napoli from Palermo in 2010, scored 33 goals in all competitions in 2011-12.

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