Gattuso blow for Italy

AC MILAN and Italy midfielder Gennaro Gattuso will miss next April's home World Cup qualifying game against the Republic of Ireland after he had knee surgery yesterday. He is expected to be out of action for six months.

The World Cup winner, badly missed by Milan in Sunday's 4-2 Serie A defeat at Juventus, tore ligaments in the 1-0 win over Catania earlier this month. "The cruciate ligaments in the right knee have been reconstructed. The surgery was perfectly successful," Milan said in a statement. "The recovery time is estimated at around six months."

He was operated on in Antwerp, by top surgeon Marc Martens and will also miss February's friendly with Brazil in London and March's qualifying trip to Montenegro.

Milan have ruled out buying a replacement for the 30-year-old in January when midfielder David Beckham will join on a short-term loan from Los Angeles Galaxy.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United have offered Michael Owen a three-year contract but are insisting the striker accepts a significant cut in his basic pay if he wants to stay at the club beyond next summer. Owen's representatives finally received a written offer yesterday and Newcastle's captain is scheduled to discuss the prospective deal with Joe Kinnear, the interim manager, today.

Although a club source said it was "a very good offer" it is understood Mike Ashley, Newcastle's owner, is not prepared to commit to continue paying Owen a basic €117,000 a week past June. At the outset of this season the player's agent rejected a proposed one-year contract extension which would have reduced Owen's basic pay to €89,000 a week.

Theoretically, bonuses and add-ons could have boosted his salary well beyond the €111,000 mark but it is understood that triggering such clauses would have necessitated Owen playing in 80 per cent of Newcastle's games and the team prospering. That is an appearance ratio he has never come near to achieving in his three-and-a-half seasons at St James' Park.

Sunderland are believed to have made no substantive progress in their hunt for a new manager and Ricky Sbragia is likely to remain in caretaker charge for Saturday's game at Hull. Sbragia could indeed be in control over the festive period because managers currently in employment are understood to be under serious consideration by Niall Quinn, Sunderland's chairman, who realises extricating them from such posts could prove both tricky and time-consuming.

Guardian Service