Amid reports of discreet approaches by Lazio and Inter Milan, Leeds manager David O'Leary has said he would like to take charge of an Italian club in the future. O'Leary has given his reputation among Serie A club owners a massive boost by beating Lazio on Tuesday and Roma last season.
O'Leary told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "One day, when Leeds have had enough of me, I would like to coach abroad and it could be in Italy, a country which I like very much and in which I have many friends."
Meanwhile, Leeds' matchwinner Alan Smith has been offered a new contract with a pay-rise of more than 300 per cent. It would take the 20-year-old's weekly salary from £3,000 sterling to around £13,000 and keep him at Elland Road until 2006.
Sven-Goran Eriksson yesterday faced up to the uncertainty shrouding his future as Lazio coach by admitting that every game was now the sporting equivalent of "life or death" for him. And while Lazio were publicly giving him another vote of confidence, the Swede's position may now effectively hinge on the outcome of the Rome derby in less than a fortnight.
Not only do Lazio have no points and no goals from their two Champions League group ties after Tuesday night's defeat to Leeds, but they also trail Serie A leaders and bitter local rivals Roma by a significant margin.
Eriksson said: "We are seven points behind the first team in the League and we are three points behind the second team in our Champions League group. Of course, if the situation is like that then every game is important for us. Every game is more or less a case of life or death now."
Aston Villa have completed the resigning of Republic of Ireland defender Steve Staunton on a free transfer from Liverpool, subject to a medical. Staunton (31) has agreed to a second spell at Villa Park after finalising personal terms with the Midlands club and he will be unveiled at a press conference today.
The player is understood to have agreed to a wage cut - he was reported to be on £28,000-a-week at Anfield - in a bid to resurrect his Premiership career.
It is not the big-money signing that Villa fans were looking for after protests to chairman Doug Ellis over his apparent reluctance to back manager John Gregory's bid to strengthen his squad.
But Staunton will provide defensive cover and competition for centre-backs Gareth Southgate, Alpay and Gareth Barry plus wing-back Alan Wright.
Staunton initially joined Villa from Liverpool in August 1991 for £1.1million and made over 250 appearances in seven seasons and helped Villa to lift the 1994 and 1996 League Cups.
A report that Charlton Athletic have first refusal on Inter Milan striker Robbie Keane if he decides to leave the San Siro has been denied by the player's representatives.
The 20-year-old Republic of Ireland international, who moved to Inter from Coventry for £13million in the summer, has been linked with a return to the Premiership with both Leeds and Chelsea interested in signing him.
Neil Lennon's agent has denied that the Leicester City midfielder's proposed move to Celtic is dead. Mel Stein insists the Northern Ireland midfielder is not disappointed at the two clubs' current stance over the transfer fee. He admitted that Martin O'Neill and Peter Taylor are still locked in discussions and claimed the deal was still very much alive.
