Soccer Shorts

A round-up of other soccer news.

Still a place for Robben

Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho has insisted the arrival of Florent Malouda will not herald the end of Arjen Robben's career at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho claimed he would "love to keep them both", but Robben seems less sure where he will start the season after revealing talks over a new contract were not progressing smoothly. The Holland international admitted: "I don't know what will happen. I have not signed a new deal and will see what the future brings. The talks have not gone really well."

Meanwhile, Sevilla are close to accepting Chelsea's final €20 million offer for full back Daniel Alves.

Two in at Portsmouth

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp has bolstered his attack by signing David Nugent and John Utaka on four-year contracts for undisclosed fees.

Nugent (22) had been tipped to leave Preston after they failed to win promotion to the Premiership and was linked with a move to Sunderland and Everton before choosing Portsmouth.

Utaka (25) has been signed from Rennes and the Nigeria international can operate as a striker or a winger.

Babel deal is deadlined

Liverpool have been urged to tie up a deal for Ajax forward Ryan Babel by the end of the weekend.

According to Dutch newspaper AD Sportwereld, the English Premiership side have increased their offer for the 20-year-old by €2 million to €17 million.

Babel's representative Winnie Haatrecht is keen to push the transfer through quickly with the player due to report back to Ajax on Monday for the first time since the European Under-21 Championships.

"We need to have an agreement before Monday," said Haatrecht. "And to go to Ajax first and go away again after that is something we don't want."

Liverpool are closing in on Yossi Benayoun after agreeing a fee, believed to be in the region of €7.5 million, with West Ham for the 27-year-old Israel midfielder.

Ronaldinho in demand

AC Milan are ready to make a €125 million bid for Ronaldinho, according to reports in Italy and Spain.

Spanish daily newspaper AS claims Milan chief Silvio Berlusconi is prepared to pay the amount required to trigger the Brazilian's buy-out clause at Barcelona.

Ronaldinho has been in contract negotiations with the Catalan club. However, talks have stalled, fuelling speculation he could join the European champions.

Barton re-bailed

Joey Barton was re-bailed today by police investigating an alleged assault on a former team-mate during a training ground bust-up while with Manchester City.

The England and Newcastle United midfielder allegedly attacked fellow player Ousmane Dabo.

Nedved to carry on

Czech winger Pavel Nedved will stay with Juventus next season after agreement was finally reached on a new contract, the Serie A club said yesterday.

The former European Player of the Year had hinted he could retire if there was no agreement between what the 34-year-old wanted and the club were willing to offer.

However, Nedved will now extend his six-year stay in Turin for at least one more season, with the midfielder Mauro Camoranesi also committing his future to the club.

In brief . . .

Blackburn will face Lithuanian side FK Vetra in the Intertoto Cup third round after Uefa yesterday expelled Legia Warsaw from the competition following crowd trouble at the weekend . . . Arsenal and Fiorentina are in talks about Freddie Ljungberg (30) joining the Italian club, the midfielder's agent said yesterday . . . Real Zaragoza have agreed to sell Argentina centre back Gabriel Milito (26) to Barcelona for a reported €17 million . . . Argentinan striker Javier Saviola (25), who is a free agent, is poised to sign for Real Madrid, according to the Spanish champions' new coach Bernd Schuster . . . Birmingham manager Steve Bruce has confirmed his interest in signing West Ham defender Paul Konchesky but also revealed the two clubs were "a bit apart" in terms of the valuation of the player . . . Rangers last night finalised a deal to sign Wigan's Scottish international midfielder Lee McCulloch (29) for around £3 million . . . Real Sociedad have confirmed midfielder Mikel Alonso (27) - a brother of Liverpool's Xabi - will join Bolton on loan . . .League One side Port Vale have confirmed the League One club have made an approach to sign former Liverpool and England striker Robbie Fowler (32) . . . League One side Carlisle have re-signed Dublin-born centre half Peter Murphy (26) on a new two-year deal.