Transfer news: Joan Laporta, the Barcelona presidential candidate, said yesterday he was close to reaching an agreement with Manchester United to sell David Beckham.
The 40-year-old Catalan lawyer held a press conference, 10 days before the club's 94,000 members vote to decide who will be their next president, and said: "I cannot go into specifics but I cannot deny that we started negotiations (over Beckham) some time ago.
"We have shown our project to United and they think it is very solid. I can only say that we are confident, very confident." Laporta is running second in the polls to a publicist, Lluis Bassat, and the election result will be known the day after polling on Sunday, June 15th.
Although the figure of €42 million has been bandied about it is understood that the fee agreed between Laporta and Kenyon is a basic €30 million with performance-related clauses that could push it beyond €40 million.
The signs are, however, that Beckham will not be at the Camp Nou next year. He wants to remain at Old Trafford, but if he finally feels he has no option but to quit the club it is almost certain that his move would be to Real Madrid.
United remain confident about finalising Ronaldinho's transfer despite the Paris St-Germain president Francis Graille staking his reputation on retaining the Brazilian. In a question-and-answer session with PSG's fans on the club's official website, Graille could hardly have been less equivocal.
In response to the question of whether Ronaldinho would stay, Graille replied: "Yes. I do not make false promises and I hope you (the fans) will judge me on my acts."
That will be of significant concern to Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive, who was confident enough after a day of extensive negotiations in Paris on Tuesday to interrupt Alex Ferguson's holiday to tell him the deal was all but done.
United confirmed last night they have received enough private assurances to believe a deal is still imminent, with Ronaldinho provisionally accepting a £60,000-a-week offer. "Peter Kenyon did not come to Paris to be a tourist," said the player's agent, Roberto Assis.
Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu will decide his future with the club after Nigeria's friendly against world champions Brazil in Abuja next Wednesday.
"I will decide whether to remain with Arsenal or otherwise after playing the matches against Malawi and Brazil for my country," he said.
Newcastle have put Nikos Dabizas on the transfer list. The defender is joined by Clarence Acuna, Robbie Elliott, Jamie McClen and Wayne Quinn. Dabizas cost £2 million from Olympiakos in 1998 and played 165 games, scoring 14 times.
George Burley has agreed a two-year deal with Derby and will be unveiled as their new manager today. The 47-year-old former Ipswich boss took charge of Derby in a temporary capacity for the last six games of the Division One season.
Former England international Steve Howey yesterday agreed to join newly-promoted Leicester from Manchester City.
Guardian Service
