Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin is confident Chelsea target Alexis Sanchez will stay put. Reports in Italy claim the Premier League giants are lining up a £26 million bid to sign the Chile winger.
“I know Udinese is a serious club,” Guidolin said. “The club have reiterated that Sanchez will remain at Udinese until the end of the season and I have no doubts on this matter.
“Of course, if a tempting offer would arrive it would be right for the club to evaluate it but I believe that Alexis can still grow from here on until the end of the season if he stayed with us.”
Rossi slams poor Palermo
Palermo coach Delio Rossi was fuming after his team’s inept display at Cagliari on Sunday. The Sicilians missed a chance to climb to fifth in Serie A as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat in Sardinia which halted their four-match unbeaten run.
“We played badly,” Rossi said. “We were far too passive and soft during the encounter and if you play like this you get beaten.
“Aside from some dubious refereeing decisions, you simply cannot go out on the pitch as we did. This is a hard defeat to stomach as we knew how important the points were.”
English FA to help S. Korea reform
South Korea is to introduce promotion and relegation between its top two football competitions with the help of England’s FA, officials said.
At present there is no movement between the professional 16-team K-League and the second-tier, semi-professional 15-team National League.
In England, the bottom three teams in the Premier League are relegated to the Championship, while the top two in that competition are automatically promoted and the next four play off for the last remaining Premiership spot.
As part of a memorandum of understanding agreed with the Korea FA, the FA will help the Asian country implement the change by 2013.
Houllier ponders Cummings deal
Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier is close to deciding whether or not to sign Colorado Rapids striker Omar Cummings on a short-term loan deal.
Houllier has been impressed with the Jamaica international while he has been training with Villa. Cummings can link up with Villa until the Major League Soccer season begins in March should Houllier decide to offer him a deal.
Houllier said: “I see Omar getting better and better with every training session.
“I will make a decision about him soon. It will be a loan deal and we would need a work permit.”
Real interested in Tevez – Marca
Real Madrid may try to sign Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez if they fail to lure Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, sports daily Marca said yesterday.
Tevez made a shock transfer request in December, blaming bad relations with the City management, but withdrew the demand later in the month after clear-the-air talks with the Premier League club.
Real Madrid had already contacted City, Marca said.
There were two big hurdles, the paper said: firstly, that City would insist on a transfer rather than a loan, and secondly that a transfer would cost €40 million and the Argentine’s annual salary was eight million euros.
Ba deal not dead – Pulis
Stoke manager Tony Pulis has confirmed the door has not closed completely on a potential deal for Demba Ba.
A £6 million move for the Hoffenheim striker appeared to have collapsed at the weekend after the Senegal international failed a medical.
“It is important to stress it fell through because of a problem with one of his legs,” Pulis told BBC Radio Stoke.
“If our club doctor has said it’s going to take three, four or five months to settle down, I don’t see any point doing a deal. But if it’s weeks, who knows? It might be right to do it.”
Kuszczak snubs Leicester move
Sven-Goran Eriksson has confirmed Manchester United goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak has turned down a loan move to Leicester.
Foxes manager Eriksson has been looking to bring in a top-quality keeper after Wigan’s Chris Kirkland recently completed a brief loan spell at the Walkers Stadium.
The Championship club made an enquiry for United No. 2 Kuszczak, but the Poland international wants to fight for his place at Old Trafford instead.
“Tomasz doesn’t want to come to us,” said Eriksson.
However, Eriksson said he has faith in his current keeper Chris Weale and would only bring in a ‘top’ replacement for his present first choice.