United States coach Bob Bradley admits he is keen to manage Aston Villa.
Bradley, who led the United States to the last 16 of the World Cup, has had no formal talks with Villa’s American owner Randy Lerner but his representatives have made contact with the club.
Asked by BBC whether he would be interested in the job, he said: “Of course, I think Aston Villa is a massive club with great history and a great following and those type of opportunities would of course be of interest.
“I would certainly be honoured to have that conversation but I’m impressed with the way things have been handled so far and we’ll see what the future holds.”
Jones impressed by Bellamy
Cardiff manager Dave Jones admitted Craig Bellamy can be the Championship club’s talisman as the on-loan Manchester City striker inspired his new side’s 4-0 victory over Doncaster.
“We knew all about the hype of this last week and we started very nervously but after defending well for 20 minutes we got going and in the second half we were well on top,” Jones said.
“Craig deserved the applause at the end as I knew he was nervous before the game.
“All the goals were good and no disrespect to Doncaster but we had a full house and Craig rose to the occasion, especially with the goal from the free-kick.”
Arteta open to England call
Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta has confirmed he would give serious thought to playing for England if he was ever offered the chance.
The Spaniard has not broken through to his country’s national team, and that situation is unlikely to change for the 28-year-old in the near future. Arteta qualifies to play for England having gained British citizenship during his five years at Everton.
“If one day the opportunity comes obviously I would have to consider it very seriously,” he said.
“I don’t know what his (Capello’s) thoughts are. I know some people have been talking about it, but I haven’t said anything yet because the offer is not there at the moment.”
Brescia target Diamanti swoop
Alessandro Diamanti is set for a return to Serie A, as it was reported Brescia are in negotiations with West Ham United.
The former Livorno talent moved to the Premier League in August 2009 and penned a five-year contract, but has been linked with a transfer elsewhere.
The 27-year-old had been in talks with Olympiakos, but according to the Gazzetta dello Sport is in advanced discussions with Brescia.
The newly-promoted Serie A side want to take Diamanti on loan with the option to buy at the end of the season.
Demichelis can leave – Van Gaal
Rebel Argentine defender Martin Demichelis can leave Bayern Munich if he wants to, coach Louis van Gaal said yesterday.
The 29-year-old refused to attend Friday’s 2-1 win over Wolfsburg, the opening game of the new Bundesliga season, after finding out he had lost his place in the centre of Bayern’s defence.
Van Gaal opted to select Belgium’s Daniel van Buyten and Germany’s Holger Badstuber and Demichelis refused to take his place on the bench.
“He can go if he wants to, it would be no problem for me,” said Dutchman van Gaal.
“We still have Maximilian Haas (the captain of Bayern’s reserves).”
Gago staying at Real Madrid
Real Madrid midfielder Fernando Gago insists he will not be one of the players leaving the club before the transfer window closes.
Madrid have brought in five players for the coming season and are reportedly looking to trim three from their squad before the end of the month.
But the former Boca Juniors midfielder says he is going to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu – at least for now.
“I am going to stay with Real Madrid this season,” he said. “I have already spoken with (sporting director Jorge) Valdano and (coach Jose) Mourinho and at no time did they say they wanted to sell me.”
Ukraine coach quits in protest
Miron Markevich resigned as manager of Ukraine yesterday in protest at a match-fixing scandal involving Ukrainian first division club Metalist Kharkiv.
Metalist, who are also managed by Markevich, were found guilty last week of rigging the result of a game which they won 4-0 against Karpaty Lviv in 2008.
Both clubs were fined and docked nine points in this season’s championship.
This proved too much for Markevich, who declared: “I have to inform Ukrainian football fans that I step down from the national head coach’s post.
“FFU chiefs completely discredited themselves with their recent decision to penalise Metalist.
“I have no moral right to continue working in the organisation, which purposively destroys football in Kharkiv.”