Soccer news in brief

Aquilani happy at Liverpool

ALBERTO Aquilani’s agent believes only a huge bid would tempt Liverpool to sell the midfielder.

Franco Zavaglia has reiterated the creative Italian international has no desire to return to his native land this summer despite ongoing speculation in the press that Liverpool are prepared to offload the player they paid €23 million for last year.

The latest rumour has suggested Juventus are back in the hunt for the 25-year-old after naming Luigi Del Neri as their new manager on Wednesday and the Turin said are said to be prepared to offer Brazilian midfielder Felipe Melo as part of a swap deal.

But Zavaglia has dismissed his client’s latest link with a Serie A comeback and expects the former Roma man to be plying his trade at Anfield next season.

He said: “For now Alberto was not required and I think it is not easy to bring him to Juventus.

“In this season, when he did not have ankle problems, he has always played and never had any problems, either with (manager Rafael) Benitez or with Liverpool.

So they wont part with Aquilani unless they receive very heavy offers.

Grant leaves Portsmouth and is set to join West Ham

AVRAM Grant looks set to take over as manager of West Ham after resigning from Portsmouth last night. The Israeli described his decision to leave Fratton Park, where his contract had two years to run, as “one of the most difficult” of his career, reports Jon Brodkin.

Grant has quit five days after Portsmouth’s FA Cup final defeat by Chelsea. He had established himself as a hugely popular figure at Fratton Park by leading the team to Wembley and sticking by the club this year despite their huge financial problems, which saw them slide into administration with debts recently put at more than €150 million.

His departure had been anticipated after Portsmouth’s relegation to the Championship and he is expected to succeed Gianfranco Zola at Upton Park on a three-year contract worth around €1.5 million a season.

Guardian Service

Limerick's appeal rejected

LIMERICK’S appeal against the decision by the League of Ireland to refuse it permission to stage a friendly game against Barcelona at Thomond Park in July was yesterday rejected, reports Emmet Malone.

The game no longer has any chance of going ahead but Limerick had persisted with the appeal in an attempt to clarify the position in relation to such games.

It is not yet known whether the club will initiate any legal action over the dispute with the league.

Ibrahimovic going nowhere - Laporta

BARCELONA'S outgoing president Joan Laporta has quashed speculation the signing of David Villa will lead to the sale of Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

“Ibra is not for sale,” Laporta, who steps down at the end of June, said.

“He is a very valued player and I know the technical staff are counting on him, he added. Villas signing will not affect Ibras future.

Ibrahimovic (28) has struggled to live up to expectations following his move from Inter Milan in a swap deal with Samuel Eto’o, netting 16 league goals in 29 matches in his first season compared to Villa’s 21 and top scorer Lionel Messis 34.

After sealing the La Liga title on Sunday, Barca moved swiftly to strengthen their squad by snapping up Villa from Valencia for €40 million in a deal expected to be completed today.

Robben talks Mourinho down

ARJEN Robben says his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho does not care about his teams’ style of play. Robben faces his old manager when Bayern Munich play Mourinho’s Inter Milan in tomorrow’s Champions League final.

“He puts out a winning team, it doesn’t matter if it’s done with nice football or not,” Robben said. “At Bayern is the coach (Louis van Gaal) wants to win games by playing nice football.”

Red Knights soldier on regardless

THE Red Knights are continuing to work towards lodging a bid for Manchester United despite reports of rifts emerging within the group attempting to oust the Glazer family. Getting in excess of 40 wealthy individuals to not only put their money to such an ambitious project, but also agree a unified plan of attack was always likely to be fraught with difficulty.

Led by leading investment banker and former United director Jim O’Neill, the Red Knights have been inching towards lodging a formal bid for the Old Trafford outfit.

Suggestions that the whole scheme is doomed to failure have wrong-footed some senior figures within the Red Knights, who have privately claimed that the past fortnight has been quite a productive period for the group.

“Talks have been going better than ever and are progressing very positively,” confirmed a source.