Ancelotti impressed by Balotelli

SOCCER SHORTS:CHELSEA COACH Carlo Ancelotti believes the Premier League would bring out the best in Mario Balotelli.

The Inter Milan striker has been linked with Manchester United and Manchester City.

When asked if the 19-year-old would be a good fit for Alex Ferguson’s squad, Ancelotti said: “It’s a team that has a great tradition and brings out the characteristics of this type of player.”

Balotelli scored nine goals in 26 league appearances for Inter this season but was not a regular starter in the treble-winning side.

Ancelotti says Balotelli could be a more prominent figure in a Premier League side. He said: “I think so. Here the atmosphere is different.

“I think a player with this type of character would be better suited here than, with respect, to Italy.

“It’s difficult to find a young player with this quality.

“Even England struggles to find a player at this level.”

Spurs extend Redknapp’s deal

HARRY REDKNAPP has signed a contract extension with Tottenham that ties him to the Premier League club until 2013.

The Spurs manager’s current deal was due to expire next year but included an option for a further two years which the club have now exercised.

Last season Redknapp guided Spurs to fourth place in his first full term with the club, their highest league finish since the Premier League’s inception.

Corcoran claims ‘Fantasy’ prize

KEVIN CORCORAN proved to be the Vicente Del Bosque of the Irish Times'sFantasy World Cup competition, the Galway manager holding off the challenge of Meath's Brian Kinsella and Dublin's Philip Mahony to win the €3,000 first prize. Brian and Philip finished level on 230 points, three behind Kevin, but Andres Iniesta's World Cup winner meant Brian's line-up had one more goal than Philip's at the end of the competition, enough to earn him the €1,500 second prize. Philip wins €500.

Unlike Del Bosque, Kevin was able to make transfers through the tournament, and he used them wisely. Ashley Cole, John Terry and Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon were sent packing after their early exits, and in came a string of wise investments, including David Villa, Mesut Ozil and Gerard Pique. Wesley Sneijder, though, was an ever-present, Kevin accurately forecasting that the Dutch midfielder would have a profitable World Cup – with 31 points he was Snowballs FC’s star man.

Man City may abort move for Dzeko

Manchester City may abort their proposed move for Edin Dzeko unless Wolfsburg lower their financial demands and accept that the most powerful spenders in English football are not prepared to pay around €54 million for the Bosnian striker.

Roberto Mancini, the City manager, wants to pair Dzeko with Carlos Tevez in the coming season but several weeks of on-off negotiations have reached an impasse, with a huge disparity in the valuation from either side. Dzeko has scored 54 goals in 94 games for Wolfsburg and the Bundesliga side have said they will do business only if they receive an offer in the area of €50 million to €54 million.

City regard that as exorbitant and are refusing to budge, determined not to be regarded as a soft touch when faced with selling clubs trying to take advantage of the financial position at Eastlands.

Celtic accept offer from Fiorentina for Boruc

ARTUR BORUC is set to end his colourful spell at Celtic after the club accepted an offer from Fiorentina.

The Italian club announced on their website yesterday that the Poland goalkeeper would complete his move to Italy after undergoing a medical.

Boruc had one year left on his contract and Celtic have opted to sell the 30-year-old rather than risk losing him for nothing next summer.

The imminent departure of Boruc, who just this morning set off on the club’s pre-season tour of North America, leaves compatriot Lukasz Zaluska as Neil Lennon’s first-choice goalkeeper . Boruc made more than 200 appearances for the club after arriving from Legia Warsaw in 2005.

The deal continued a busy day in the transfer market for Celtic, who this morning confirmed the arrival of Joe Ledley on a four-year contract after seeing a loan deal for Hull midfielder Jimmy Bullard fall through. Celtic have confirmed the departure of Stephen McManus to Middlesbrough on a three-year deal.

Dutch receive big welcome home

DETERMINED NOT to let defeat spoil a good party, some 700,000 fans turned out to welcome the Dutch soccer team home from the World Cup in a parade through Amsterdam’s canals yesterday.

After coach Bert van Marwijk and captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst were knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, the team were given a heroes’ welcome by fans despite their 1-0 defeat to Spain in Sundays final in South Africa.

The city had reversed an earlier decision to cancel the parade in the event of a loss, and a fleet of boats swarmed into the narrow canals to follow the parade boat as it passed under bridges packed with cheering fans. The warm welcome contrasted with harsh criticism of the team’s final display in newspaper editorials.