Inter have not lost hope of loaning Victor Obinna to Everton after the move broke down towards the end of the transfer window when the Nigerian was denied a work permit.
The English Premier League club's application for a work permit was rejected by the Home Office despite manager David Moyes and chairman Bill Kenwright travelled to an appeal hearing in London on Monday.
"The last word has not been said as this ruling can be appealed against in Britain," Inter's technical director Marco Branca was quoted as saying.
Inter signed Obinna from Chievo last week with the intention of loaning him to the Premier League side.
Gerrard in race against time
Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, thinks Steven Gerrard will recover in time for him to play against Manchester United on September 13.
The Liverpool captain is recovering from a groin operation which has ruled him out of England's World Cup qualifiers with Andorra and Croatia.
The injury is expected to sideline Gerrard for up to 15 days leaving him with a race against time to be fit for the crucial Premier League clash with arch-rivals United.
Benitez said: "Steven is okay. He's started with bicycle work and will start jogging, so I think he will be ready soon."
September is a big month for Liverpool with the Champions League starting and games against rivals United and Everton.
Iraq vs Milan XI next month
The Iraq national team will travel to Italy next month to face a Milan all-stars side, new coach Jorvan Vieira said yesterday.
The Brazilian told Reuters he would train the team in Baghdad from September 22 - their first camp in the war-torn country in over five years - ahead of the October 6 friendly in Milan.
Vieira quit Iraq after their surprise victory at the 2007 Asian Cup, complaining about the chaotic state of Iraqi soccer. This week he agreed to rejoin the side, despite their early exit from 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
Berbatov reaches objective
Dimitar Berbatov said joining Manchester United was always his priority this summer. He never considered the option of joining other clubs, including United's rivals Manchester City.
On transfer deadline day, it briefly looked as though the Bulgarian could join Manchester City as reports said that Tottenham had accepted an offer from City before United agreed a £30.75 million deal.
Berbatov said he was flattered by City's interest but only ever wanted to link up with the Premier League champions.
"I have very big respect for the offer of Manchester City," Berbatov said.
"Because of it, the transfer to United was held up for a few hours. But for me there was only one goal... to wear the red shirt of United."
Early recovery for Chiellini?
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini is recovering well from a knee problem and may be back by mid-September, a month earlier than feared when he suffered the injury two weeks ago.
The Italy international sprained his knee during the Trofeo Berlusconi match against Milan on August 18 and there were initial fears he could be out for the rest of the season.
Despite the good news Chiellini was still cautious.
"I got quite a scare but I'm improving now and started running again. We'll see how it goes when I start kicking the ball," he said.
Italy get special badge
FIFA president Sepp Blatter presented a new World Cup-winners' badge to Italy at the world champions' training camp near Florence.
Italy will wear the badge, which features an image of the World Cup trophy, on their shirts at least until South Africa 2010, when the new world champions will gain the right to wear it.
"This symbol will serve to remind us how to create the conditions to win, to remember how we united and what we did to win it," coach Marcello Lippi told reporters ahead of Italy's opening World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus and Georgia.
Blatter said: "The champions deserve a special recognition.
"Italy are the first to have this and the symbol will be on their shirts at least until 2010. Looking at it, the players will be even more motivated."
Manager's job safe, Hughes told
Sulaiman Al-Fahim said Manchester City have no intention of parting with manager Mark Hughes.
Al-Fahim was delighted to clinch a deal for Robinho and is now looking ahead to the January transfer window.
"Mark Hughes will stay, the chairman will stay and the technical staff will stay as it is," Al-Fahim said.
"We started negotiating to buy some more players but the transfer window was our last chance to sign Robinho and we were able to obtain him and we were lucky to be able to do that."
Al-Fahim has already hinted he could make an offer of £135 million for Cristiano Ronaldo while Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres are other reported targets.