Alex McLeish has paved the way for Marcus Bent to leave Birmingham in January after confirming the striker has no future at the club.
McLeish brought the well-travelled striker to St Andrew’s from Charlton in a £1m move in 2008. But the 32-year-old has fallen down the pecking order and spent the first half of the campaign on loan at local rivals Wolves.
Bent’s current agreement with the Molineux club ends next month but McLeish has made it clear his days at City are numbered.
“Marcus knows he does not have a future here at Birmingham He will be trying to get a new club in January,” McLeish said.
Lennon reveals De Rosario interest
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has revealed that Canada midfielder Dwayne de Rosario will join Freddie Ljungberg in training with his squad ahead of the January transfer window.
Toronto midfielder De Rosario, 32, was offered to Lennon as he looks to strengthen his squad.
Ljungberg, 33, trained with Celtic yesterday after declaring himself ready to play in Sunday’s Old Firm derby if the Glasgow club follow up their interest in him.
De Rosario could follow if Lennon likes what he sees from the midfielder, who has scored 15 goals in 55 international appearances.
Smith impressed by Rangers rookie
Rangers manager Walter Smith was delighted to be able to hand Jamie Ness his first-team debut at Fir Park after a difficult spell for the teenager.
The 19-year-old played the last 17 minutes of Rangers’ 4-1 victory over Motherwell on Boxing Day, putting in a composed performance in midfield. Smith had hoped to give Ness his competitive debut before Sunday but a string of injuries held back his progress.
Smith said: “Jamie’s finally back to full fitness again after a difficult period.
“It has been an awkward spell for him and that’s at least a couple of seasons now where he has never really had any consistency of play.
“But he has now shown a steadiness in his training, he has stayed injury free and he has been excellent for us.”
Collins tipped for Wales captaincy
Aston Villa defender James Collins has been backed to replace striker Craig Bellamy as the new Wales captain.
Bellamy has offered to quit as Wales skipper because he will be unable to be an international ever-present as he manages his long-standing knee injury.
Centre-back partners Collins and Ashley Williams are favourites to succeed Bellamy if new Wales boss Gary Speed accepts Bellamy’s offer to stand down.
Collins, capped 37 times, first skippered Wales in their final 2010 World Cup qualifying win in Liechtenstein in September 2009 as a stand-in for the injured Bellamy.
Maicon not leaving Inter in January
Antonio Caliendo, the agent representing Douglas Maicon, told reporters that the Brazilian wing-back will not leave Inter next month.
Real Madrid were again expressing interest in signing Maicon lately and the news was given prominence these past few days in the Italian and Spanish media. However, Caliendo said it was difficult for Maicon to leave the Serie A champions.
“You can never say anything with absolute certainty, but it seems difficult to me that a player of this level can change teams in the January transfer window,” he said.
“To buy a player of this class you need lengthy negotiations. Only in special cases like the one of Ronaldinho can everything be resolved in little time.”
Argentina big five €123m in debt
Argentina’s big five clubs are 650 million pesos (€123.5 million) in debt, with River Plate in the most precarious position.
The Tiempo Argentino newspaper claimed that River Plate have a deficit of almost 80 million pesos – a record for an Argentine club – and debts of 216.8 million pesos, of which 190 million is due to be repaid in 12 months.
Boca Juniors, Independiente, Racing Club and San Lorenzo are the other four major sides with serious financial worries.
All five failed to make any impression in the Argentine title race this season with Estudiantes taking the championship, two points ahead of Velez Sarsfield.
Cha overboard on Ljungberg underwear
South Korean international Cha Du Ri admitted that he’s a fan of Celtic target Freddie Ljungberg’s fashionable choice of underwear as well as the Swede’s stylish game.
Ljungberg is poised to join the Scottish giants as Celtic boss Neil Lennon seeks new recruits while Cha and international compatriot Ki Sung-Yueng miss a month of club duty to play in January’s Asian Cup in Qatar.
“Freddie is a very famous player – and I like his underwear,” Cha said.
“I have a lot of Calvin Klein underwear at home – maybe I’ll show him. Seriously, he’s a good player and if he comes to us I think he can help us. It’s great.”