Manchester United goalkeeper Victor Valdes’s unhappy stay at Old Trafford looks to be drawing to a close with the Spaniard on the verge of a loan move to Belgium club Standard Liege.
The 33-year-old former Barce-lona keeper, who joined United last season when he was out of contract as possible cover for compatriot David De Gea, has made only two appearances.
United would not comment on Valdes’s future yesterday, but the player appeared to be saying goodbye when he posted a message on social networking site Instagram thanking the club’s fans for their support.
Sanchez ready to return for Arsenal
Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez and playmaker Mesut Ozil are fit for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Chelsea.
The league leaders have been without the influential Chilean, who has scored six league goals this season, since late November after suffering a hamstring injury.
Ozil missed Sunday’s goalless draw away at Stoke City with a minor toe injury.
“The good news is that Ozil certainly will be available, and Sanchez... the next two days will be decisive... but I think this time he will make it to be available for selection,” Arsene Wenger said.
Ranieri upbeat despite FA Cup exit
Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri sought comfort in his team’s record against Tottenham Hotspur this season after the Foxes were knocked out of the FA Cup by their north London opponents on Wednesday night.
Leicester fell to a 2-0 defeat in their third-round replay thanks to a sumptuous strike from Son Hueng-min and Nacer Chadli’s slotted finish, but the setback could not dampen the spirit of their manager.
“It’s fantastic,” Ranieri said of his team’s record against Spurs.
“It’s a minimum of 10 years that Tottenham are building their team to reach the Europa League and Champions League zone.
“We’ve just started our journey and we are fighting with them.”
Coach Stoeger pens new Cologne deal
Cologne coach Peter Stoeger signed a three-year extension to his contract until 2020 yesterday after steering the club from the second division to mid-table stability in the Bundesliga.
The Austrian, who took over in 2013/14, secured promotion to the Bundesliga in his first season in charge and then guided them to a 12th-place finish back in the top-flight.
Cologne are in ninth place at the halfway mark.
“We have the best coach for Cologne with Peter Stoeger,” said club CEO Joerg Schmadtke.
“We are successfully working together and we want to continue doing that with Peter.”
Bilic denies making bid for Sturridge
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has denied making a move for Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge.
With both Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho sidelined through injury and Mauro Zarate closing in on a deal to join Fiorentina, Bilic is keen to bolster his attacking options in the transfer window.
But the Hammers boss has dismissed speculation that Sturridge, the England striker who has featured just six times for the Reds this season due to a string of injuries, is poised for east London.
“That is only a rumour and there is nothing behind it,” said Bilic.
“I am not talking about who we want – Daniel Sturridge is a big player and a big name – but that is only paper talk.”
Bolton to raise funds with car park sale
Bolton will have a validation order heard today as they try to push through a deal to sell a car park to raise funds.
Wanderers’ non-playing staff were not paid their salaries yesterday, just three days on from a High Court hearing that had granted them a five-week extension to remedy their financial problems after HM Revenue and Customs had served them with a winding-up petition over an unpaid tax bill of £2.2 million.
The Championship club are confident they can sell a car park at the Macron Stadium but they need to purchase a small piece of land before offloading that as part of a bigger deal.
Cech’s gloves off to Chelsea by mistake
Petr Cech’s starring role in Arsenal’s title challenge this term appears to have gone unnoticed by adidas, with the goalkeeper’s new gloves dropped off at Chelsea’s training ground by mistake.
Cech, who spent 11 years at Chelsea before completing a move across London to Arsenal in the summer, was expecting a new pair of gloves ahead of the match between the two clubs on Sunday.
But they were instead delivered to the Blues’ Cobham training base, rather than Arsenal’s London Colney home, although Chelsea did rectify the issue by flagging up the error.
Cech recently set a new record for the number of clean sheets kept in the Premier League and will take his place between the posts when his former club visit the Emirates Stadium.