West Ham co-owner David Gold claims the club will sue Brescia for money they say they are owed from the sale of striker Alessandro Diamanti from Brescia to Bologna.
Diamanti signed for the Hammers in August 2009 from Livorno for £6 million. However, he was allowed to move back to Italy after just one season in the English Premier League.
It is, though, the player’s subsequent transfer to Bologna in a co-ownership deal following Brescia’s relegation to Serie B that has left the Hammers incensed.
Gold said: “We sold Diamanti to Brescia because he was desperate to return home. He was then sold to Bologna. We are suing Brescia for the money.”
Mancini: I want to keep Kolarov
Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has dismissed speculation that he is looking to offload Aleksandar Kolarov.
The Serbia left-back joined City from Lazio in 2010 but played second fiddle to Gael Clichy for large parts of the past campaign, sparking speculation about his future.
Mancini insists Kolarov re-mains part of his plans.
“Kolarov? I would like to keep him. We have very good players and there are many clubs interested in them, which means that we have done our jobs well,” he said.
Olic sets his goals
Ivica Olic has set himself a target of 15 goals with his new club Wolfsburg next season.
The 32-year-old striker spent much of last season on the Bayern Munich bench and his lack of opportunities convinced him not to extend his contract with the club this summer but instead to seek a new challenge.
The Croat has found that with Wolfsburg and now wants to get back to his best with a good haul of goals for his new club next season.
“I would be happy with 15 goals,” Olic said.
“I am feeling 100% fit now. I know coach Magath demands a lot but Wolfsburg can be certain I will give everything for this team.”
Ruddy happy to be a Canary
John Ruddy is looking forward to hitting more highs with Norwich after agreeing a new four-year deal at Carrow Road.
Ruddy, 25, impressed for the Canaries on their return to the Premier League last season, earning himself a call-up into England’s squad for Euro 2012, which he then had to miss after breaking a finger in training.
Ruddy believes it is an exciting time at the Norfolk club.
“It has been a non-stop rollercoaster since I joined, with a lot more highs than lows and hopefully that will continue over the course of the next four years,” Ruddy said.
Borini sticking with Roma
Reported Liverpool target Fabio Borini has no intention of leaving Roma.
Roma recently paid Parma €5.3m on a blind auction to sign the remainder of Borini’s sporting rights. The former Chelsea striker is now tied to Roma until June 2016 but has been strongly linked with a return to the Premier League.
“Fabio’s wish has been to become a Roma player,” Borini’s agent Marco De Marchi said.
“We had hoped that the clubs would find an agreement and we had to wait.
“Now we can say that we are very happy. Fabio is delighted and is ready to begin a true new adventure with Roma.”
Twitter abuse
The FA have branded Twitter attacks on Ashley Young and Ashley Cole as “unacceptable”.
Both players missed penalties in Sunday’s quarter-final shoot-out defeat by Italy and late on Monday it emerged attacks had been launched on the social networking site.
“We are concerned at the reports regarding allegations of abuse aimed at England players Ashley Cole and Ashley Young on Twitter,” an FA statement read.
“They have just given everything for the national team and it is appalling and unacceptable that messages of an abusive type are being posted.
“We support any police investigation in identifying who is behind this.”
Cruyff identifies Dutch problems
Johan Cruyff believes the problems that saw Holland crash out of Euro 2012 after failing to win a single point start at the top.
There was talk of disharmony between the players at the tournament and although Cruyff refused to mention any names, he implied the likes of the Royal Dutch Football Association and coach Bert van Marwijk were responsible.
He said: “Every problem starts at the top. There have been huge mistakes. Our performances went downhill, and no measures were taken.
“Many teams have taken more and more characteristics of Dutch football, and we were pretty much the only team not to.
“What happened at the Euros was a result of two years earlier (at the World Cup).”