A round-up of today's other stories in brief
City begin talks with Hargreaves
MANCHESTER City’s move for former England midfielder Owen Hargreaves looks like being one of the biggest surprises of the summer transfer window.
City have spent more than €79 million on the likes of Sergio Aguero and Sami Nasri, but bringing in free agent Hargreaves is entirely unexpected.
The former Manchester United midfielder, who left Old Trafford in May after three years of persistent injury problems, is in talks to make the short trip to closest rivals City.
It had been anticipated the 30-year-old, who has had extensive surgery on both knees and played just four matches in his last three seasons, would be forced to drop down a level.
West Brom were interested in signing the former Bayern Munich player, as were npower Championship club Leicester, but it seems City are prepared to take a gamble in attempting to add some defensive solidity to their midfield.
Wigan plan a bid for Maloney
WIGAN are in talks with Celtic about signing forward Shaun Maloney, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan has claimed.
The Scotland winger’s first foray into English football did not turn out well after a disappointing spell with Aston Villa in 2007.
Maloney returned to Celtic in 2008 and signed a four-year deal but the club appear willing to sell him again.
“Nothing concrete has happening as yet,” said Whelan. “We’re still talking to the club. If we get things tied up with Celtic then he’ll come down for a chat tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Rangers have confirmed they have rejected a €7.4 million bid from Leicester for striker Nikica Jelavic. The npower Championship side attempted to swoop for the Croatian ahead of tonight’s transfer deadline.
A statement on the club’s website read: “Rangers Football Club can confirm that they have today rejected a bid for striker Nikica Jelavic from English Championship side Leicester City.”
Cole on verge of a switch to Lille
FRENCH champions LIlle are on the verge of completing a season’s loan for Joe Cole, thereby satisfying Liverpool’s desire to save at least some of the 29-year-old’s weekly wage of €100,000.
Cole has failed to recapture his best form since moving to Anfield on a much-heralded free transfer in July of last year. The England international has made only 11 Premier League starts since then, with his appearances coming largely in Europe.
After failing to feature in any of Kenny Dalglish’s squads for Liverpool’s opening three matches of this campaign, it was clear that Cole is deemed surplus to requirements.
Dalglish supplemented the Liverpool midfield over the close season with the high-profile signings of Blackpool’s Charlie Adam, Sunderland’s Jordan Henderson and Aston Villa’s Stewart Downing.
Sunderland may move for Crouch
SUNDERLAND have resurrected their interest in Peter Crouch before what promises to be a frantic deadline day at Tottenham as Harry Redknapp makes room for the arrival of Scott Parker by trimming his squad and allowing Wilson Palacios and Alan Hutton to leave.
It is also possible Redknapp will make a late bid for Bolton’s Gary Cahill and include Sebastien Bassong as part of the deal.
Crouch’s availability has prompted Sunderland to consider tabling an offer of about €11 million for a player they tried to sign just over two years ago, when he was playing for Portsmouth.
Parker’s switch from West Ham United to Spurs is more straightforward. The England midfielder submitted a transfer request to force the €6.7 million deal through and his signing is regarded as a formality, with West Ham moving to replace him by signing former Fulham midfielder Papa Bouba Diop yesterday.
Rovers set to host Europa League games in Tallaght
SHAMROCK Rovers have won approval from Uefa to stage their three Europa League group games at Tallaght Stadium after persuading officials from the organisation that the club can complete the work required to meet its criteria for prospective venues, writes Emmet Malone.
The required work, which centres on the number of seats for spectators at the ground, is likely to be started over the coming days and club officials were hopeful last night they will be in a position to publicise ticketing arrangements for the games against Russia’s Rubin Kazan, PAOK of Greece and Tottenham Hotspur by the end of the week.
“We’re currently working with the FAI and Uefa to ensure that all of these games go ahead in Tallaght,” said Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche last night. “We’re confident that we can meet the Uefa’s requirements, though, and we’re confident that the games will go ahead at our home ground.”
Roche expressed his appreciation of the efforts of the FAI who had supported the club in their efforts to overturn an initial decision by Uefa to refuse permission, something that would have resulted in a hugely costly move to the Aviva stadium with each match there reported to have a prospective price tag of €200,000.
The intention now is that between 2,000 and 4,000 temporary seats will be put in over the course of the coming week so that the ground will be ready for the regular pre-game Uefa inspection.
