Berbatov to miss Wales match

Injured Bulgaria captain Dimitar Berbatov will miss a friendly against Wales in the Black Sea port of Bourgas on Wednesday.

The Tottenham Hotspur striker, who sustained a groin injury against Everton on Tuesday, will be replaced for the Euro 2008 warm-up game by fellow English Premier League player Valeri Bojinov.

New Manchester City signing Bojinov had originally been set to play in Bulgaria's U-21 friendly against Greece in Athens on Tuesday.

Wednesday's match marks the return of 62-year-old Dimitar Penev as Bulgaria coach.

Pander in to replace Fritz

Germany coach Joachim Loew called up Christian Pander to the squad to face England next week after Clemens Fritz became the second defender to pull out yesterday.

Fritz, the Werder Bremen right-back, has a stomach muscle injury, the German Football Association said.

Bayern Munich left-back Marcell Jansen withdrew from the squad on Thursday after suffering a calf injury.

Pander, who plays for Schalke 04, becomes the third uncapped player in the squad for Wednesday's friendly at Wembley.

Fernandes set to complete move

Everton hope to complete the signing of Portuguese midfielder Manuel Fernandes today. The 21-year-old arrived in Britain on Thursday with a view to sealing a £6m move from Benfica.

The Toffees have had to get the all-clear from the Premier League over the signing because Fernandes is part-owned by a third party, the Global Sports Agency.

Fernandes spent the second part of last season on loan at Goodison Park and impressed manager David Moyes who has now agreed a permanent deal for him.

Cicinho... future in the balance

Real Madrid's right-back Cicinho has admitted that his future at the club is in the balance and that he may end up at Roma or Sevilla.

"Things aren't clear yet," the Brazilian was quoted as saying in sports daily AS.

"My aim is to stay but we'll have to see what the club says. If not, I'm keen on the Roma option, though Sevilla are a big club too and I wouldn't rule them out either."

Briatore to become QPR owner

Flavio Briatore, who runs the Renault Formula One team, is set to become the new owner of English second division club QPR.

"Mr Briatore wants to do for QPR what Mohamed Al Fayed has done for Fulham and turn us into a Premier League club," Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini said.

"It is a dream come true for all the fans and saves this club from liquidation."

Billionaire Briatore, 57, will wipe out QPR's debt of £17 million and invest an extra £100 million over three years.

$800 bottle of wine for Fergie

Sven-Goran Eriksson and Alex Ferguson are set to share an $800 bottle of wine after tomorrow's Manchester derby despite clashing in the past.

United manager Ferguson had regular run-ins with Eriksson when the Swede was England manager, particularly over releasing his players for friendly internationals.

"There's no problem between Alex and me," Eriksson said. "We might have had different opinions regarding United and the national team but we also had a lot of dinners together, so there's nothing personal really."

Reports said the Swede has ordered an $800 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for the visit of Ferguson, a keen collector of fine wines.

Maxi Lopez to join FK Moscow

Barcelona have reached an agreement to sell Argentine striker Maxi Lopez to FK Moscow for two million euros, the Primera Liga side said.

The 23-year-old joined Barca from River Plate in January 2005 for a reported fee of six million euros.

However, he never managed to hold down a regular first team place and was loaned out to Real Mallorca last season.

Bruce critical of youth set-up

Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has voiced his criticism of academy systems in English football as his efforts to recruit British talent have failed to reap the desired dividends.

The 46-year-old was quoted as saying that club academies were failing to produce top players and warned: "It's going to be a downward spiral now.

"Where are we producing the players? We've got all these academies. But I don't think they are working. There seems to be a dearth of young talent. We're not producing like we used to."

O'Neill keen on buying British

Martin O'Neill is looking to assemble a principally British squad at Aston Villa.

"I think we have a good sound base of homegrown players and something I would certainly like to add to in the future," O'Neill said.

"That is not to say I have not been looking abroad to strengthen my squad."

O'Neill, who has the smallest squad in the Premier League, is keen to strengthen his options over the next fortnight and said one new signing is very imminent.