Man. City boss Roberto Mancini has hinted that winger Scott Sinclair’s future could lie away from the Etihad Stadium. The 24-year-old has started just three games for City since his £6.2m move from Swansea last August.
Mancini accepts he has not given the Great Britain Olympic player much opportunity and could understand if he was frustrated.
He said: “This situation with Sinclair is difficult because I didn’t give him a lot of chances to play. He is very unlucky. A young player like Scott deserves to play always.
“For him, it was a really difficult time this year.”
David O’Leary wins legal battle
David O’Leary has won a £3.4m compensation claim against Dubai-based club Al Ahli.
The former Leeds and Aston Villa boss had taken the claim to FIFA following his dismissal one year into a three-year contract. The League Managers’ Association (LMA) said despite having sacked O’Leary, Al Ahli claimed the Irishman had abandoned his job.
“Club officials had openly stated to the media at the relevant time that there had been a dismissal,” said an LMA statement.
The club also argued that FIFA lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim.
FIFA rejected both lines of defence and awarded O’Leary the full sum due under his contract.
I’m going nowhere says Wenger
Arsene Wenger yesterday again ruled out leaving Arsenal before the end of his contract.
The Gunners boss, 63, still has another season left to run on his current deal, but has been linked with a summer switch to big-spending PSG. Wenger, though, stressed his only focus was on securing Arsenal a top-four finish in the Premier League again.
Wenger said: “I answered that question already. I respect my contracts. I want to stay (on past 2014) if I do well and if I consider or the club considers that I do well, that is all.
“I want this club to do well, that is my basic feeling. I believe the club is in a very strong position for the future.”
Levante to co-operate fully
Levante have vowed to fully co-operate with any authority planning to investigate allegations of match-fixing in their league clash with Deportivo La Coruna last month.
Depor boosted their survival hopes with a 4-0 victory over fellow strugglers Levante at the Ciutat de Valencia on April 13, with reports this week claiming the match is now under suspicion of match-fixing.
Levante issued a statement backing the players and promised to do everything possible to assist any inquiry into the allegations.
Pirlo sees the finishing line
Juventus playmaker Andrea Pirlo has revealed he will quit international football after next summer’s World Cup finals. Pirlo is set to play an integral part of the Azzurri’s hopes in Brazil, when he will be 35, but believes the time will then be right to move on.
“In 2014 I will stop with the national team, I think the World Cup will be the last appointment with the blue shirt,” he was reported as saying.
“You have to leave room for the young.”
Pirlo has won 97 caps in an Italy career highlighted by winning the 2006 World Cup.
Pirlo said that he would likely play on in domestic football.
“At club level I will continue on as long as I have passion,” he said.
Brazil promises fast connections
Soccer fans attending next year’s World Cup in Brazil will have no problem going online from stadiums, Brazilian Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said.
Each of the 12 stadiums hosting the 32-nation tournament will have two separate 50-gigabyte networks connected to Brazil’s fibre optic backbone, he told reporters.
“I doubt that the stadiums will use one third of the capacity that we are installing,” Bernardo said.
“Not even Mr Jerome Valcke will use up all that capacity, though he could if he makes a lot of explosive statements,” the minister said in reference to the general secretary of FIFA.
Valcke was briefly declared persona non grata by the Brazilian government last year for saying Brazil needed a “kick up the backside” to speed up preparations for the World Cup.
Carr calls it quits
Ex-Ireland international Stephen Carr has called time on his career after more than 400 league ap-pearances for Tottenham, Newcastle and Birmingham.
The 36-year-old full-back, capped 44 times by his country, made his professional debut at Spurs as long ago as 1993, alongside the likes of Gary Mabbutt and Teddy Sheringham.
Carr first announced his retirement in December 2008 at the age of 32 after failing to find a club following his release from Newcastle, but was persuaded to reverse that decision by Birmingham in February the following year.
He went on to make over 100 appearances for the Blues, and as captain led the club to League Cup glory a year later.