Soccer Digest: Bradford's enigmatic Italian Benito Carbone will complete a loan move to Middlesbrough this morning despite briefly threatening to pull out of the deal when the Teessiders refused to offer him a permanent transfer.
Talks had broken down yesterday, with the 30-year-old pricing himself out of Middlebrough's market by looking to maintain his £40,000-a-week deal at Valley Parade, in excess of Middlesbrough's new wage ceiling. But the Italian reconsidered and could now be included in Steve McClaren's side to face Leeds tomorrow.
"A loan deal is all we can offer at the moment," said McClaren, who re-opened talks with the former Napoli, Internazionale, Sheffield Wednesday and Aston Villa forward last night. "We will offer him the chance to play in the Premier League and it could change in the summer if he comes here and does well."
Middlesbrough have scored only 10 times in their last 15 games, but their attempts to enlist help for the injury-prone Alen Boksic have consistently run aground. A bid to sign Manchester United's Dwight Yorke collapsed after the striker demanded in excess of £35,000 a week, while Diego Forlan opted to move to Old Trafford rather than the Riverside.
"Beni made it clear that he wanted to go on a permanent deal to Boro," said Bradford's chairman Geoffrey Richmond. "What was on offer was a three-month loan, but with a very serious view to it being permanent.
"It is the lure of again playing in the Premiership which has led to his change of mind. His quality is undoubted because he is a Premiership player on Premiership wages. We will talk about a fee with Boro as and when Beni has had his successful loan period."
Nicolas Anelka's chances of making France's World Cup squad look bleak after Roger Lemerre omitted the striker for next week's friendly with Romania, warning him he must earn a regular starting place for Liverpool to get back into contention.
The French coach ignored the 22-year-old Anelka, along with Fulham's Steve Marlet and Kaiserslautern's unsettled playmaker Youri Djorkaeff, who is currently thinking over a move to Bolton Wanderers. There are eight English-based players in the party.
Anelka has scored only once - against Birmingham in the FA Cup - in 10 appearances since joining Liverpool on loan from Paris St-Germain. Emile Heskey's recent resurgence, with three goals in his last two league games, has also raised doubts about the Frenchman's chances of making a permanent £12 million move to Anfield in the summer.
"Nicolas went to England to boost his chances but he must play as much as possible with his club and try and force his way into a regular first-team place," said Lemerre. "I haven't forgotten him and I have an eye on him like all the other France players, but he needs to be playing regularly."
Djorkaeff (33) has asked Bolton for more time to think over a move having fallen out of favour at Kaiserslautern. He was a key figure in France's World Cup and European Championship successes but, with transfer windows closed across Europe, England remains his only way out of the Bundesliga.
"We are in the early stages of trying to bring Youri to the club," admitted the Bolton manager Sam Allardyce.
"He would be a great addition to the squad and I'm hopeful something can be sorted out." Allardyce will secure the services of one probable World Cup player today when he completes the £250,000 signing of Hamburg's Danish international Stig Tofting. The 32-year-old midfielder, capped 34 times, will sign a two and half year d eal subject to a medical.
"He will give us something that we have lacked in midfield," added Allardyce.
