Football news

Greece international midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos has said he is not interested in leaving Premiership side Bolton Wanderers to play in the English Championship.

The 33-year-old, who underwent hernia surgery in Athens during the off season and has missed the start of the new campaign, has been linked with a loan move to Sheffield United.

"I am not interested in Sheffield United or any other Championship side," he told a Greek sports website.

Beckham out of Colorado match

David Beckham, fatigued after playing three games in six days, has been ruled out of Los Angeles Galaxy's Major League Soccer (MLS) match against Colorado Rapids today.

The England midfielder has been hampered by a left ankle injury for the last two months and limped off the pitch after the Galaxy's 3-0 MLS defeat by Chivas USA on Thursday.

"While it's regrettable that he will not play in Colorado, we have to focus on healing David's injury," Galaxy president Alexi Lalas said.

QPR player dies in car crash

Ray Jones, the QPR player, has died in a car accident. The Championship club postponed their match at Burnley yesterday following the death of the young forward.

The 18-year-old England youth international was involved in an accident in East Ham and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police confirmed Jones was one of three people to have been killed in the collision between a black Volkswagen Golf and a double-decker bus.

Ajax agree on Luque fee

Newcastle have reached an agreement with Ajax for the sale of Albert Luque. The Spanish striker, who joined Newcastle from Deportivo in 2005, only scored twice last season, both goals coming in the UEFA Cup.

The 29-year-old is expected to sign a three-year contract.

Luque had expressed an interest in joining Real Betis and had also been linked with a move to PSV, Feyenoord, Bordeaux and Barcelona.

Celtic eyeing Czech keeper

Michal Danek claims to be heading to Celtic Park this week for possible signing talks with the Scottish champions. The 24-year-old Czech keeper is presently with Viktoria Plzen.

"But the interest of Celtic is the greatest," Danek said. "It is a great club. I am going to visit the club soon and see how it looks."

Danek is already keen on the transfer.

"If this was possible, I would certainly not refuse it," he said.

Cagliari could get points penalty

Cagliari risk a penalty of up to six points for taking legal action against one of their own directors. It is against the rules in Italy for any registered sport professional to take legal action against another member without first seeking permission from the authorities.

Cagliari twice violated that clause during a row with former director general Oreste Cinquini in their bid to rescind his contract.

Cinquini won a ruling and was awarded 200,000 euros but Cagliari challenged it by applying to the tribunal in Milan.

Defoe urged to stay

Martin Jol, the Tottenham manager, will probably have to sell striker Jermain Defoe if he does not sign a new deal. Defoe is out of contract next year and Spurs do not want a repeat of the Sol Campbell saga who finally joined Arsenal for free in 2001.

The 24-year-old has already been linked to Aston Villa.

Jol said: "He tells everyone he loves the club but hasn't signed a contract. We all want him to stay at Tottenham."

Bruce to sign new deal

Steve Bruce is set to sign a new contract at Birmingham. He still has two years remaining of his current deal. But Bruce was promised a new contract after steering the club to promotion last May.

Bruce said: "There are talks going on about a new contract. I have been talking about a new one since we got promoted.

"I hope we can finalise something in the next couple of days."

Platini still loves Juve

Michel Platini, the UEFA president, has not forgotten his former club Juventus. He remains a legend in Turin and now that he is UEFA president he hopes they will cross paths again.

Platini scored 70 goals in 147 games for Juventus between 1982 and 1987, winning two league titles, the Coppa Italia, European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup, Intercontinental Cup and European Super Cup.

"I would love one day to hand Juve the European Cup," he said.

No more strikers - Gill

Alex Ferguson will not buy another striker to improve Manchester United's scoring chances.

On Friday, United were forced to reject claims they had made a bid for Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov after his agent, Emil Dantchev, claimed United had made a firm offer.

"Manchester United is linked with many players in every transfer window," said chief executive David Gill. "The club has categorically not made a bid for Dimitar Berbatov."