Fabien Barthez's future at Manchester United has been cast into doubt by the disclosure last night that Manchester United have sounded out Antti Niemi's advisers about the possibility of a £3 million move from Southampton, writes Daniel Taylor
The United manager Alex Ferguson would prefer to sign Paul Robinson but is aware that, despite Leeds United's perilous financial position making it imperative they sell, the Yorkshire club would rather conduct business elsewhere and that Arsenal, for one, could gazump their bid. The Turkish goalkeeper Rustu Recber, who is available on a free from Fenerbahce, is also a possible target.
Ferguson is consequently putting out feelers for the 30-year-old Niemi and, though Southampton would be reluctant to entertain the idea, the lure of Old Trafford might be too strong for the Finland international to turn down.
Barthez was dropped for the match at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and will be deemed surplus to requirements at the end of the season.
Phil Neville's reluctance to accept a bit-part role at Old Trafford also makes it unlikely that he will remain at the club for another season. Neville is said to have reacted to the news that he would not even be a substitute at White Hart Lane with an uncharacteristic fit of pique and there were unconfirmed reports that he sat alone on the team coach when the game got underway.
The Football Association is set to turn to its video advisory panel to rule whether Leeds's Danny Mills and Everton's Duncan Ferguson should face sanctions for misdemeanours which went unspotted by referees at the weekend.
Mills escaped punishment for the tackle that ended the Blackburn full-back Vratislav Gresko's season, breaking three bones in the Slovakian's foot, with the referee Paul Durkin oblivious to the incident at the time.
Gresko, on loan from Parma, will be out for at least a month and Blackburn's problems are compounded by the similarly untimely absence of their centre-half Craig Short, who pulled a hamstring during the 3-2 victory at Elland Road.
The panel will also look at Ferguson's alleged elbowing of Aston Villa's Joey Gudjonsson during Everton's 2-1 win on Saturday if, as expected, the incident is not included in Graham Poll's match report.
Bolton's manager Sam Allardyce is hoping Andy D'Urso reconsiders the two yellow cards he issued to Florent Laville during Saturday's 2-2 draw with Arsenal so that the French defender, on loan from Lyon, can feature against Middlesbrough on the final day of the season.
Fulham yesterday announced record annual losses of £33.6 million, the second highest in Premiership history. Republic of Ireland defender Steve Finnan heads a list of players expected to depart in the summer, with Liverpool said to be interested in signing the £6 million-rated defender.
