Football news

Gennaro Gattuso has confirmed he will not be travelling with Milan to White Hart Lane for the return leg of their Champions League last-16 clash with Tottenham.

Spurs were 1-0 winners at the San Siro last week, but the match was overshadowed by a confrontation at the end between Gattuso and Tottenham coach Joe Jordan.

The 33-year-old midfielder was handed a four-match ban by UEFA for assaulting Jordan, and has now decided not to support his team-mates in London for his own safety.

“I would like to go to White Hart Lane but I have been advised not to,” he said.

“I have been told there will be 47,000 people there waiting to give me a slap, so I will stay in Milan.”

Given facing shoulder operation

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has confirmed that goalkeeper Shay Given could be facing three months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.

Given saw a specialist yesterday and Mancini expects the Irish stopper will require surgery.

“Shay has this problem in his shoulder and I think he needs three months to recover,” Mancini said.

“He has the same injury that he had last year and I think that he needs an operation.”

Given also damaged his shoulder in April, which prompted City to sign Marton Fulop on an emergency loan deal from Sunderland.

Santander owner paying off debt

The new owner of Racing Santander, Indian tycoon Ahsan Ali Syed, has begun to pay off the €13m in debts the club holds with the Spanish Treasury.

Angel Agudo, finance minister of the northern region of Cantabria, said Syed had paid around two million euros, and had agreed with the Treasury on a schedule of payments to cover the rest of the debt.

Syed, the founder of Bahrain-based asset manager Western Gulf Advisory, bought Racing Santander last month. Santander are 12th in the Liga five points off the relegation zone. They have never won a major title in their 98-year-history.

I was offered a bribe – Hateley

Former England striker Mark Hateley claims he was offered a financial incentive not to play for Rangers in a Champions League clash against Marseille in 1993.

The two teams met in the group stages of the competition, whose format then saw the winner of two groups of four qualify for the final.

Marseille did just that, before beating Milan 1-0 to win their only Champions League trophy to date, but Hateley has suggested he was offered money not to appear in the group fixture – an offer he turned down.

In an interview with ITV, Hateley said: “It was a friend of a friend, who had got in touch via certain routes, basically asking me not to play.

“It would be financially rewarding for you, he said, should I not play in the Marseille game.”

Pulis eyes change in summer

Stoke boss Tony Pulis already has his sights set on a summer of change providing the club can retain their place in the Premier League this season.

Since promotion to the top flight in 2008, Pulis has consistently talked about a three-year plan, one that reaches its conclusion at the end of May.

Stoke finished 12th at the end of year one, 11th at the end of year two, and at present stand 10th and have reached the sixth round of the FA Cup for the second successive season.

Now Pulis is ready to take Stoke to the next level as he said: “If we stay up this year there will be lots of changes. They won’t be massive, but certainly changes within the club and the group which will enable to push on again.”

Go for Mourinho, Trezeguet tells Juve

French striker David Trezeguet has urged Juventus boss Andrea Agnelli to appoint Jose Mourinho as manager and called on his former team-mates to keep in mind the club’s glorious history.

“Hopefully,” Trezeguet, who now plays for Spanish club Hercules, told Tuttosport when asked if Juve should consider Mourinho as a possible replacement for current manager Luigi Del Neri. “Mourinho is the No 1. Del Neri works a lot, but Agnelli knows that a Ferrari needs a certain kind of driver.”

Trezeguet also suggested that the Juventus players be taken to the trophy room to remind themselves how big the club is.

“Remember what Juventus is,” Trezeguet said. “I would take the players into the trophy room to give them a sense.”

Heinze sorry over bitter United exit

Marseille’s veteran Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze has said he was sad that his spell at Manchester United had ended on a sour note.

The 32-year-old left United in 2007 for Real Madrid after manager Sir Alex Ferguson replaced him at left-back with Patrice Evra and then refused to sell him to bitter rivals Liverpool.

“I am very sorry that I left,” said Heinze. “Sadly things happened in the final few months there that I regret.

“But everyone has his character, like Sir Alex Ferguson and myself. We are two strong characters. The club, though, gave me a lot, and the supporters were at my side from day one.