Football news

Reports in the Italian media said defender Dario Knezevic is expected to turn down an offer to join Torino and instead opt for city rivals Juventus.

The Croatia international seemed to have reached an agreement with Torino last month but Juve have hijacked the deal and agreed a loan deal with Knezevic's former club Livorno.

According to La Stampa, Juve will have to pay £500,000 to Livorno and hold the option to make the deal permanent for £1m next summer.

Torino president Urbano Cairo said: "Livorno's president Aldo Spinelli had a deal with me and I will be declaring it to the Lega Calcio. We will see what happens. I spoke to Spinelli on Sunday and I thought that he had a strange air about him, but he reassured me."

Diarra in favour of Domenech

France midfielder Lassana Diarra has spoken out in favour of coach Raymond Domenech to stay as head of the national team despite their group stage exit from Euro 2008.

"I hope he (Domenech) stays," Diarra was quoted as saying in French sports daily L'Equipe.

"Collectively and individually, we were not up to the task. We made far too many mistakes. All the players need to do some soul searching, ask themselves what went wrong.

"The players are to blame for what happened," added the Portsmouth player, who did not play during the tournament.

Billionaire wants to buy Norwich

Insurance mogul Peter Cullum wants to take over at Norwich City from current club owner Delia Smith. The billionaire has told reporters he is willing to pump £20 million into the Championship club's coffers.

The lifelong Canaries supporter has built a personal fortune estimated at £1.7bn since founding the Towergate Partnership in 1997.

Cullum wants to become the club's majority shareholder, while keeping Smith as a club figurehead.

"I don't believe I can ever make money out of a football club. This is about passion and love for the club," Cullum said.

Cullum claims to have first approached the Canaries' board in October 2007, when the club was rooted at the bottom of the Championship.

Hoeness upbeat on Gomez's signing

Bayern Munich sporting director Uli Hoeness remains upbeat on his team's chances of acquiring Germany striker Mario Gomez on a transfer from Bundesliga rivals VfB Stuttgart.

"If Mario Gomez is going to move before the coming season, our chances of getting him are good," Hoeness told Munich daily TZ.

"Obviously, we're doing all we can to get him before he goes to Italy and people say 'How come you didn't try to get him'?"

Dispute on Ben Arfa deal

Olympique Lyon and Olympique Marseille have become involved in a dispute over the transfer of France forward Hatem Ben Arfa, with Lyon saying that his move to Marseille was not valid.

Marseille said last week the 21-year-old Ben Arfa was joining them from the French champions. However, Lyon said the deal had not been finalised because they had not received all the required financial guarantees from Marseille.

Lyon said in a statement they expected Ben Arfa to return to resume training but the player said he considered himself a Marseille player and would stay at Marseille.

"I'm here (in Marseille) and I won't go there (to Lyon)," Ben Arfa told reporters.

Only one signing says Ferguson

Alex Ferguson said Manchester United will only make one major signing this summer.

"Managers are back at their clubs and you can get some dialogue now if they are interested," he said. "But I wouldn't think we would buy any more than one player."

Ferguson, who must also determine the situation of Cristiano Ronaldo, said he will not be rushing to spend.

"People think it's easy to buy players but it's not because money plays a big part first of all," he said.

United recently had a £5m offer accepted for Cardiff City's 17-year-old Aaron Ramsey, but the teenage star decided to move to Arsenal.

United have been linked with forwards Dimitar Berbatov and Roque Santa Cruz as possible replacements for injury-prone Louis Saha, who is reported to be in talks with Roma.

Chelsea interest in Robinho

Robinho could join Chelsea from Real Madrid this summer. The Brazilian forward has been linked with a move to Stamford Bridge for some time and the speculation has increased since the appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari as Chelsea manager.

It has already been reported that Real Madrid are ready to sell Robinho for £25 million as they look to raise funds in order to make an offer for Cristiano Ronaldo. Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro believes the two clubs should begin formal talks in the coming days.

"It is not new but now with the arrival of Scolari to the bench they have increased the contact," Ribeiro said.