Today's other stories in brief
Celtic get their man
Scottish champions Celtic confirmed the signing yesterday of former Hearts defender Steven Pressley in a 17-month deal.
"He has signed a deal until May 2008, subject to full registration being completed through the Scottish FA and Scottish Premier League. This should be done on January 1st," Celtic revealed in a statement.
Pressley played alongside Celtic manager Gordon Strachan in the 1990s while at Coventry City. The defender had also been a target for Premiership side Charlton but opted to stay in Scotland.
His agent Blair Morgan said yesterday: "It was a really, really difficult decision. He had two fantastic offers from two good clubs but the lure of European football next season won the day."
Celtic are 15 points clear in the Scottish Premier League.
The 33-year-old left Hearts earlier this month after being dropped for speaking out over the turmoil at Tynecastle saying there was "significant unrest in the dressingroom". He also criticised the running of the club and Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov wound up his contract.
The former Rangers player joins a small band of players to have belonged to both of the big Glasgow clubs, following the likes of Alfie Conn, Mo Johnston and new team-mate Kenny Miller.
Pressley said: "It's a fantastic opportunity for me at this age. There are plenty of challenges. There is the opportunity to win silverware here at Celtic Park. In eight-and-a-half years at Hearts I got the opportunity to do that only once and it was a fantastic feeling."
Zheng joins the struggle
China captain Zheng Zhi has joined struggling Premiership side Charlton Athletic on loan until the end of the season, the club announced yesterday.
The deal, which comes into effect when the transfer window opens next Monday, January 1st, also gives the relegation-threatened London side an option to make the 26-year-old midfielder's move permanent.
Zheng is new manager Alan Pardew's first signing since he took charge of the club last week.
Stokes free to decide
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told teenage striker Anthony Stokes he is free to spend the rest of the season in Scotland. The 18-year-old has been a big hit north of the border with Scottish Premier League club Falkirk, who are keen to extend his rapidly-expiring loan deal for another six months.
But having scored 13 goals for Falkirk, plenty of other clubs have been alerted to the Dubliner's potential, with Wenger leaving the door open for Charlton to take him back to London.
Wenger said: "It depends on him. I will not force him to come back. I feel he will benefit from having one year in the SPL as a first-team player. Then he will be in a strong position to come back and say 'I want to play here'."
Charlton manager Alan Pardew is understood to be an admirer of Stokes, who has also been linked with Celtic and Sunderland.
Warnock to shop local
Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock's transfer budget was boosted by £5 million after the club's shareholders approved a new fund-raising scheme yesterday. With his side two points above the Premier League relegation zone, Warnock is ready to invest in home-grown talent.
"I don't think we're the type of club that can be signing three or four foreign players because we haven't got six months (to wait)," said Warnock. "If you look at someone like (defender Nemanja) Vidic at Manchester United, he struggled for six months and now he's magnificent. We can't gamble like that, we've got to look at the next three or four months."
A first for Argentina
Argentina will be England's first opponents at the new Wembley, according to a report in South America. The Argentinian sports daily Ole has claimed the two-time World Cup winners are being lined up to play a friendly which could be in late May or early June next year.
However, the English Football Association insist no games have been confirmed for the stadium which is expected to be ready to use midway through 2007 after several delays.
An FA spokesman said: "The FA has not confirmed any fixtures from 2007 beyond those we have already announced. We are not in a position to contractually announce any more at this time."
The report follows an announcement earlier this month by Germany that they would play a friendly on August 22nd at Wembley.
In brief .. .
Wigan have announced the signing of Norwegian international midfielder Kristofer Haestad (23) from IK Start on loan until the end of the season . . . Birmingham have admitted they could be prepared to sell midfielder David Dunn during the transfer window . . . Sunderland manager Roy Keane has revealed Wolves counterpart Mick McCarthy wants to sign on-loan defender Neill Collins on a permanent basis . . . Manchester United defender Jonny Evans (19) will join Sunderland next week after agreeing a loan deal . . . Lee Martin (19) has returned to Manchester United after Rangers decided against extending the winger's loan deal . . . Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been awarded an MBE for services to sport.
