Sporting briefs

Arsenal: Arsenal were yesterday poised to sign South Korea captain Park Chu-Young from under the noses of Lille. Monaco striker Park is set to undergo a medical in London in the next 24 hours with a view to completing a move that could be worth in the region of £10 million.

Eto’o: Anzhi Makhachkala debutant Samuel Eto’o saved the day for his new club by scoring an equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw at Rostov in the Russian Premier League yesterday. The 30-year-old came on as a substitute in the 57th minute where 1,500 Anzhi fans had travelled to witness their new favourite’s first appearance.

Watford: Aston Villa midfielder Jonathan Hogg has joined Watford for an undisclosed fee. The 22-year-old has put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the Hornets.

Milan: Milan have suffered an injury blow with French midfielder Mathieu Flamini set to be ruled out for at least five months. The 27-year-old hurt his right knee during last weekend’s 2-1 win over Juventus in the Berlusconi Trophy, and further tests have confirmed ligament damage. The Frenchman will have to undergo knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined until next year.

Mourinho: Michel Platini has called on Jose Mourinho to set an example after the Real Madrid manager’s apparent gouging the eye of a Barcelona coach. “Every-one makes mistakes and he will be punished by the national association,” Platini said. “It would have been better not to do that – he is an educator, a coach, perhaps the best coach in the world. The great people in the world have to be examples.”

Hargreaves: Owen Hargreaves claims he offered to play for Manchester United for free this season before finally accepting that his injury nightmare had ended his Old Trafford career. “At one stage I did offer to play for nothing this season, just to stay on,” he said. “But they said, ‘You don’t want to do that’ and they were probably right.”