Azaouagh leaves Schalke for Mainz

Mimoun Azaouagh has left UEFA Cup contenders FC Schalke 04 to spend a season on loan at former club 1. FSV Mainz 05. The 23-year-old midfielder prompted a major row between the sides over a transfer fee when he moved to Gelsenkirchen in 2004/05. But he has made only four Bundesliga appearances for Schalke due to a knee injury and now returns to Mainz to gain first-team experience.

US Città di Palermo have landed Brazilian midfielder Fábio Simplício from Serie A rivals Parma FC for an undisclosed fee. The 26-year-old scored ten goals in 37 games at the Stadio Ennio Tardini last season but now joins Palermo, who have also captured 24-year-old defender Maurizio Ciaramitaro from Serie B side AC Cesena.

Goalkeeper Asier Riesgo has signed a new four-year contract with Real Sociedad de Fútbol. The 22-year-old's deal was due to expire at the end of June but will now run until 2010. "I feel wanted and at home here at Real," said Riesgo. The agreement follows defender Jon Ansotegi's decision to pen a new two-year contract at the Anoeta.

Bundesliga new boys FC Energie Cottbus have taken goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel on a free transfer from Hertha BSC Berlin. Tremmel, 27, has agreed a two-year deal with Cottbus, having made only five appearances in two seasons in the capital. He was previously with Hannover 96 and SpVgg Unterhaching.

Croatian attacking midfielder Igor Novaković has inked a three-year contract with Russian side FC Tom Tomsk. The 27-year-old made 26 league appearances for HNK Rijeka this season, scoring nine goals, to help the club finish second in Croatia and qualify for the UEFA Cup.

The 32-year-old former Romania defender Iulian Sebastian Filipescu has left Swiss champions FC Zürich to transfer to Germany's MSV Duisburg on a two-year contract. Filipescu, who scored the last-gasp goal at FC Basel 1893 that won Zürich the title at Basel's expense, counts Real Betis Balompié, Galatasaray SK and FC Steaua Bucuresti among his former teams.

FC Lokomotiv Moskva midfielder Sergei Kuznetsov has joined FC Luch-Energia Vladivostok on loan until the end of the Russian season. The 20-year-old played for Luch-Energia before moving to FC Dinamo Moskva for the 2005 campaign and then on to Lokomotiv in the spring.

Viking FK have signed Nigerian striker Peter Ijeh, 29, from Danish champions FC København until the end of the 2009 season. The Norwegian side have already recruited two other players, midfielder Nicolai Stokholm and forward Søren Berg from Danish club Odense BK, but have allowed Peter Kovacs and Trygve Åse Lunde to join Strømsgodset IF.