Manchester United have signed a ground-breaking deal for Toshiba Medical Systems to become the club’s official partner.
The five-year partnership, the first of its kind to be developed with a British football club, will see state-of-the-art medical equipment provided to United’s medical team based at the training centre in Carrington.
Carrington is currently undergoing its first major redevelopment since the first team moved there 12 years ago.
No replacement for Andy Carroll
England boss Roy Hodgson has opted against bringing in a replacement for Andy Carroll ahead of the World Cup qualifiers with Moldova and Ukraine.
Carroll pulled out with a hamstring injury sustained during his West Ham debut against Fulham on Saturday.
Hodgson waited until after the weekend matches before deciding whether to add to his squad but instead will stick with the remaining 23 members.
It means England will have only three orthodox forwards – Danny Welbeck, Jermain Defoe and Daniel Sturridge. There had been speculation Darren Bent, Peter Crouch or even Bobby Zamora could be drafted in for Friday’s game in Chisinau.
AVB warning to new Spurs keeper
Andre Villas-Boas has warned Hugo Lloris that he will have to battle hard to become Tottenham’s number one. Spurs beat a host of Europe’s top clubs to land Lloris in a £12 million deal on deadline day.
The 25-year-old, who has 38 France caps, was expected to oust Brad Friedel as Villas-Boas’s first-choice stopper, but the Portuguese admits he will not drop the former Blackburn keeper if he maintains his current form.
“When you move it’s not written that you have to play,” Villas-Boas said.
“He has to compete against three good goalkeepers and at the moment Brad is doing extremely well. He deserves to be playing and he’ll continue to do so.”
Good news on Wilshere return
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielder Jack Wilshere is closing in on a comeback. The 20-year-old is viewed as one of football’s hottest properties but missed all last season with an ankle injury and has remained sidelined for the start of this one.
However, Wenger has re-ported some impressive work on the training ground and estimates Wilshere will be challenging for a starting berth within a month.
“Wilshere is looking very good in training. It depends what you call close, but I would say in a month he should be starting to play again,” the manager said.
Eriksson joins Thailand club
Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was unveiled as technical director of Thai club BEC Tero Sasana yesterday, the first venture by the Swede into Asian soccer in his colourful 35-year coaching career.
Eriksson, 64, will oversee strategic planning and support coaching staff of the two-times Thai champions, who become his latest club after stints in charge of some of the biggest teams in European soccer.
Eriksson takes over a Bangkok-based club currently fourth in the league and struggling to regain their form since winning back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002.
Maradona – Dubai sports ambassador
Diego Maradona, sacked in July as coach of Dubai’s Al Wasl, has been appointed as Honorary Ambassador of Sports in Dubai under a deal inked at a media conference.
In terms of the one-year contract signed between Maradona and the Dubai Sports Council, the 51-year-old will leverage his experience to develop the game of football in the Gulf emirate.
The value of the contract with DSC was not revealed, but reports said it could exceed $5m, which is the amount Maradona would have received as a compensation for his contract being terminated with Al Wasl.
Ronaldo puzzle over ‘sadness’
Cristiano Ronaldo left reporters scratching their heads on Sunday when he said he did not celebrate his goals in Real Madrid’s 3-0 home win over Granada because he was “sad”.
The Portugal international, who asked to be substituted after picking up a knock in the second half at the Bernabeu, said his feelings had nothing to do with losing out to Andres Iniesta for the Best Player in Europe award but refused to elaborate.
“I don’t celebrate goals when I am sad and that’s the case today,” Ronaldo said, adding it was a “professional” and not a “personal” issue.
“The people who work here know why and I won’t say anymore than that,” he said.