Football news

Richards setback for Man. City

Manchester City defender Micah Richards is set for another month on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Richards suffered the problem on Olympic duty and City manager Roberto Mancini expected him to recover in time for tomorrow’s Premier League encounter with Southampton.

However, the 24-year-old’s recovery has not gone quite as well as planned.

“I think it will be three or four more weeks,” said Mancini.

Scharner banished from Austria squad

Hamburg’s Austrian defensive midfielder Paul Scharner has been banished from the national side after a disagree-ment with national coach Mar-cel Koller.

The day before their friendly clash against Turkey on August 15, Koller let Scharner know that he would not be starting the game and that he could not guarantee him a place in the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.

As a result the 40-times capped player decided to walk away from the squad just hours before the friendly kicked off.

Israel team under ‘severe threat’

Israel’s national football team were warned of a “severe threat” to their safety in Budapest where they played a friendly match against Hungary in midweek, the Israel coach said.

After returning to Tel Aviv on Thursday, coach Eli Guttman said the Israeli delegation had been warned by security officials that they were at risk in Budapest.

“I don’t know how much was known about this in Israel, the players were aware, but there were very severe warnings of a possible attack,” Guttman told reporters at Ben Gurion airport.

No major security incidents were reported during the match at the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in the Hungarian capital which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Diego Junior for Argentina move

The Italian-born son of Diego Maradona is set to follow in the footsteps of his father by playing club football in Argentina.

Diego Armando Sinagra Maradona, also known as Diego Jr, will sign for fourth-tier club El Porvenir, from the town of Gerli near the capital Buenos Aires, according to coach Luis Ventura.

Ventura tweeted: “I have in my hand the passport of Diego Armando Maradona and the permit to transfer his Italian registration...the future of Diego Junior is in Gerliiii.”

Diego Junior, who was born while his father was playing for Napoli, came close to joining Scottish lower-league club Clyde when aged 16 in 2003.

Garrido completes Norwich transfer

Premier League club Norwich City signed Spanish defender Javier Garrido from Lazio on a season-long loan.

Garrido failed to make an impact in his previous spell in England with Man. City and has also struggled to hold down a regular place at Lazio.

But Canaries boss Chris Hughton believes the 27-year-old will shine at Norwich.

“I’m absolutely delighted to be bringing in somebody of Javier’s quality,” Hughton said.

“It gives us real competition in the squad, and for me an im-portant factor was the fact that he has played in the Premier League before. He has also played in La Liga and Serie A so he is a player of real experience.”

Marseille deny Barton swap deal

Marseille have firmly denied suggestions that QPR’s Joey Barton could be set for a season-long loan move to the club in exchange for Cameroonian midfielder Stephane Mbia.

“A swap deal is absolutely not envisaged,” an OM official said.

Barton’s future has been the subject of much debate after the 29-year-old was stripped of the captaincy and given a 12-match ban for his red card and subsequent conduct on the final day of last season against Manchester City.

He spent pre-season training with fourth-tier Fleetwood Town in northwest England but would not be able to join the League Two newboys on loan as it is understood the Football League would refuse to register him while his ban remains.

Spurs priced out of Moutinho deal

Tottenham Hotspur have dropped their interest in signing Porto’s Joao Moutinho because the Portugal midfielder is too expensive, the Premier League club’s new manager Andre Villas-Boas said.

Spurs are looking to replace playmaker Luka Modric, who is likely to join Real Madrid later this month, but Moutinho is not an option despite having worked under Villas-Boas at Porto.

“The level of expectation of Porto over (the price) is difficult,” Villas-Boas said.

“Porto sell expensive but they sell a good product. They have pride in defending that kind of ground.”