Football news

Swansea City have agreed a fee with Manchester City for the sale of winger Scott Sinclair, reports said yesterday.

The 23-year-old has made it clear he does not wish to sign a new deal at the Liberty Stadium, but Swansea rejected an offer from Man. City on Tuesday.

However, a restructured offer of £6.2 million with add-ons that could see the fee rise to over £8 million has now been accepted, and Sinclair is to hold talks over personal terms.

With Sinclair’s departure now imminent, manager Michael Laudrup is set to bolster his wide options after agreeing a fee of around £5.5 million to sign Valencia’s Pablo Hernandez.

Stoke City close to finalise Edu deal

Stoke are close to completing the signing of Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu after being given permission to finalise his work permit application.

The United States international has been a long-standing target of City boss Tony Pulis and last weekend agreed terms on a three-year deal and passed a medical.

The only hold-up was his work permit and, with the club confirming that the FA have given approval for them to proceed with that, the move looks set to go through.

Stoke have cautioned, though, that the 26-year-old is unlikely to be available for the weekend clash with Wigan owing to the timescales involved.

Rooney denies exit rumours

Wayne Rooney has described reports suggesting he is leaving Man. United as “rubbish”.

With the transfer window due to close today, reports have suggested Rooney’s future lies away from Old Trafford. Alex Ferguson has already insisted the striker, currently out of action with a leg injury, remains in his plans.

Rooney tweeted: “Read the nonsense in the papers and heard what people have to say... absolute rubbish... here to stay.”

However, Rooney’s chances of figuring in Sunday’s trip to South-ampton appear non-existent be-cause of the injury sustained against Fulham last weekend.

West Ham clinch Carroll on loan

Liverpool striker Andy Carroll ended months of speculation over his future by joining West Ham on a season-long loan.

Carroll’s future at Anfield has been in doubt since Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers admitted the England forward might be an awkward fit for the smooth passing style he wants the Reds to use.

The deal is likely to bring an end to Carroll’s disappointing spell with Liverpool as West Ham have agreed an option to sign him on a permanent basis for an undisclosed fee in May.

Martinez wants titles with Bayern

Spain midfielder Javier Martinez said he has signed for Bayern Munich to win titles as he looks forward to making his Champions League debut with the Bavarians.

The 23-year-old put his signature to a five-year contract with Bayern on Wednesday and his transfer from Athletic Bilbao is reported to have cost the Bavarians €40 million, setting a new Bundesliga record.

“I am simply delighted to finally be here,” Martinez said having only played Europa League football with Bilbao.

“This is one of the best teams in the whole world, at least one of the top two or three.

“It is a huge honour for me to be a part of this club.”

De Jong completes Milan move

Milan have completed the signing of Dutch midfielder Nigel De Jong from Manchester City.

The 27-year-old defensive midfielder, who has a reputation as a hard worker and tough tackler, made 104 appearances for City having joined the club in 2009 from Hamburg.

De Jong, a product of the Ajax school of football has also been a regular on the Dutch national team since making his debut in 2004.

No transfer fee was announced in the report.

De Jong’s arrival may go part way to soothing the Rossoneri fans’ pain of losing Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and several other key players including new Inter recruit Antonio Cassano.

Bendtner on his way to Juventus

Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner is on the verge of completing a loan move to Italian champions Juventus.

ANSA news agency said the deal had yet to become official but that Juventus had “practically secured the services of Nicklas Bendtner”.

It said: “The player will be loaned with the possibility of signing permanently for a fixed sum of five million euros.”

Juve’s move to bring the Danish international to Turin comes less than 24 hours after their last-ditch attempt to sign Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.