Arsenal striker Arturo Lupoli will play for Fiorentina next season. Yesterday, the Florence outfit revealed that Lupoli has agreed a five-year deal which will commence in June.
The 19-year-old joined Arsenal in 2004 from Parma but made just one Premiership appearance. He is currently midway through a season-long loan spell at Championship high-flyers Derby County.
Lupoli is an Italy U-21 international and scored on his debut for Pierluigi Casiraghi's men in their friendly against Luxembourg in December.
Mancini extends contract - reports
Reports in the Italian press yesterday said that Roberto Mancini had agreed to a new three-year contract with Inter. His contract expires in June, but club supremo Massimo Moratti had repeatedly stated that there were no problems, as they only needed to find the time to sit down and talk.
Recent rumours had suggested that Moratti was starting to lose his patience and was considering the idea of looking for a replacement, with Jose Mourinho one of the possible candidates.
According to the weekly ControCampo, the former Lazio coach has agreed to a three-year deal with Inter, finally ending the rumours of a possible move abroad.
The new deal was allegedly finalised last Friday.
Walcott postpones operation
Theo Walcott is set to postpone shoulder surgery in an effort to aid Arsenal's quest for the honours. He netted his first Gunners goal in Sunday's League Cup final defeat by Chelsea.
With fellow youngster Abou Diaby facing a spell on the sidelines after damaging his ankle in the incident which left John Terry unconscious, Arsene Wenger is ready to delay Walcott's operation so the 17-year-old can play a part in Arsenal's run-in, which continues with an FA Cup fifth round replay at Blackburn tomorrow.
"We had planned a shoulder operation for Theo but maybe I will try to delay it because we have lost Abou," Wenger said.
"I wanted to let him have the surgery so he can start next season without any problem. It is not a big operation but it looked to me like he can play with it."
Southampton chairman quits
Michael Wilde has resigned as chairman of Southampton, and will relinquish the role with effect from today.
He has also stepped down as a director of the club, and as vice-chairman and a director of parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings plc (SLH).
Wilde, 54, replaced Rupert Lowe as Saints' club chairman in June 2006.
A statement read: "Michael led the initiative to secure new investment monies. He has been unsuccessful in those endeavours."
PSV keen to have Zenden back
Liverpool midfielder Bolo Zenden has emerged as a summer transfer target for his former club PSV Eindhoven. Zenden began his career at the Philips Stadium before moving on to Barcelona, Chelsea, Middlesbrough and then Liverpool.
"Zenden is a good player with a lot of experience and we want to increase the amount of Dutch players," PSV coach Ronald Koeman said.
"He has a warm feeling for PSV. We are really looking for these type of guys."
Zenden, though, has played down the possibility of returning to Holland just yet.
"I had a fantastic time at PSV, but I am not sure I have finished my job abroad to return to the Netherlands," he said.
Dresden players attacked
Police in the eastern German city of Dresden said yesterday they were investigating an incident in which Dynamo Dresden players were threatened by a group of around 50 of their own supporters.
After Dresden lost 1-0 at home to Osnabrueck on Saturday in a regional third division match, the supporters, some of whom wore masks, confronted the players at a training session on Sunday, shouting insults, firing blanks and attacking a television team.
Benitez wants Fowler replacement
Rafael Benitez is keen to find a long-term replacement for Robbie Fowler. The player's contract at Liverpool expires at the end of the season.
Benitez has hinted the ex-Leeds United and Manchester City striker could yet stay at Anfield, although should he leave an expert finisher will need to be acquired.
"If we create chances for him, we know he's a very good finisher, the best we have," Benitez said.
"If he can score goals every game, we will see, you never know. But we have a lot of games to play so we can talk about his future later. But if he's not with us next season then we will need to look for another one like him."
Hiddink's fate to be decided today
Dutch soccer coach Guus Hiddink will know his fate on tax fraud charges when a court in the Netherlands delivers its ruling today.
Hiddink, 60, who coaches the Russian national team, has been accused of evading almost 1.4 million euros ($1.84 million) in Dutch taxes while falsely claiming he was a resident of Belgium in 2002 and 2003 after he came back from his successful job with the South Korean national team.
On Feb. 6 prosecutors demanded he serve a 10-month jail sentence, dismissing his claims that he had been living in Belgium as "a joke".
Hiddink's tax adviser is also on trial and facing a jail term. Hiddink's case came to the attention of Dutch tax fraud inspectors after telephone conversations with a former PSV director were monitored by wire taps in a criminal investigation into the PSV director some years ago.