Football news

Manchester United have been handed an injury boost after scans revealed Phil Jones did not suffer a broken cheekbone during Wednesday’s 5-0 win at Fulham.

Jones was forced to leave the field after he clashed with Clint Dempsey and Alex Ferguson revealed afterwards he feared the young England international faced a spell on the sidelines.

But after scans showed no break yesterday, Ferguson said Jones is set to feature in the Boxing Day clash against Wigan at Old Trafford.

“Phil Jones should be okay for Monday,” Ferguson said.

“We feared the worst but there is no break.”

Juve eye Leali

Promising Brescia goalkeeper Nicola Leali is being targeted by Juventus as an ideal replacement for Gigi Buffon when the latter decides to retire from the game.

A host of clubs have been monitoring Leali but it seems that Juventus will be his likely destination as the 19-year-old was also tracked by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in summer.

According to sources, Juve have agreed to pay Brescia €5m for Leali who will move to Turin at the end of the season.

Buffon, 33, joined Juve in 2001 after they paid Parma £33m for his signature.

Guardiola hails professional Barca

Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola hailed his side’s professionalism after they demolished Hospitalet in the Copa del Rey late Thursday.

Holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, the European champions romped through the return 9-0 against Segunda Division B opposition.

Given the victory came just four days after Barca won the FIFA Club World Cup, Guardiola was delighted with his team’s performance.

“The way my players behaved shows why we are so admired and why we have been the best team in the world this year,” he said.

“If we have won admirers it is because of displays like this.”

Hutton ‘conned’

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish thinks defender Alan Hutton was “conned” into being sent off during the latter stages of Wednesday’s home clash with Arsenal.

Hutton lost his discipline in being yellow carded twice in two minutes after a flare-up with Robin van Persie and then for bringing down defender Thomas Vermaelen.

Van Persie was then spotted waving at Hutton after he had been sent off.

McLeish said: “It was a shame to see Alan getting sent off after such a good performance.

“Van Persie was waving to him as he went down the tunnel. They conned him. Alan was conned and he should be experienced enough to just laugh in his face and walk away.”

Zwanziger to leave post early

Theo Zwanziger will step down as president of the German Football Association (DFB) on March 2 and not when his term is officially due to end in October.

The 66-year-old has an-nounced that he will be handing over the reins to his designated successor Wolfgang Niersbach – who is yet to officially receive a majority vote, but whose election is merely a formality – seven months earlier than planned.

Zwanziger felt that an earlier switchover would be beneficial for the DFB.

“After considering the whole situation, I have reached the conclusion that it is better to ensure there is clarity at the head of the association as quickly as possible,” Zwanziger said.

Keita set to join Milan – reports

Barcelona veteran Seydou Keita will be playing for Milan in the Serie A next season, reports in the Spanish media said.

Keita, 31, has a contract at the Nou camp that runs until June 2014 but it seems that a clause in his deal allows him to leave Barcelona two years early.

The clause is activated if Keita is not given a minimum number of appearances during the campaign.

Sport.es said Milan supremo Adriano Galliani has already reached a verbal agreement with the midfielder’s agent for next season.

FFA facing Culina claim

Football Federation Australia (FFA) is facing a claim of about US$1.7 million from injured Socceroo Jason Culina after it allegedly failed to ensure he was covered by insurance.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph said the players union had served a grievance notice on the FFA on Thursday after it emerged that Culina had not been insured since returning to Australia to play in the domestic A-League in 2009.

Newcastle Jets made moves in October to cancel the contract of their injured player but the players union said at the time it expected the club to honour the deal.

Negotiations with the Jets are understood to be ongoing, the Telegraph report said.