Soccer Shorts: Arsenal's Ashley Cole is to take his "tapping-up" case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne after losing an appeal over the affair involving the England defender and Chelsea.
Originally fined £100,000 by the Premier League for breaching rules on approaches to players, Cole lost an initial appeal on Wednesday - although his fine was cut to £75,000. But the England defender's solicitor Graham Shear said in a statement yesterday that Cole was still not happy with the Premier League Appeals Committee verdict. "My client feels that he has done little, if anything, wrong and therefore is not satisfied with the result of the appeal."
Fabregas signs deal
Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas is believed to have signed a new contract with the club that will keep him at Highbury until 2011. The deal was confirmed by the player's agent in a report in Spain's La Voz de Galicia newspaper. Arsenal also appear poised to complete the loan signing of Cameroon midfielder Alex Song (18) who has been on trial at the club.
United eye Cicinho
Gary Neville's future at Manchester United has been plunged into doubt after it emerged that the club were willing to spend £8million on another right-back, the Brazil international Cicinho. Neville's position suddenly looks vulnerable with the news that Alex Ferguson has invited the 25-year-old Sao Paulo defender to join the club. The deal is far from clear-cut, not least because Milan and Juventus have also expressed firm interest, but Ferguson is optimistic of exploiting a get-out clause in Cicinho's contract to tie up a deal that would have serious ramifications for the England defender.
Dunne recovers
Republic of Ireland defender Richard Dunne looks set to captain Manchester City tomorrow after making a remarkable recovery from a foot injury. It was feared he had fractured a bone in a incident in a Bangkok bar. However, the damage is not as bad as was initially suspected and Dunne has been called into the squad to face West Brom by manager Stuart Pearce. Pearce said: "Richard is back with us and will have another couple of days training. He will be available for selection." Meanwhile his international team-mate Kenny Cunningham, who suffered a collapsed lung during the pre-season friendly with QPR at Loftus Road 12 days ago, is in a race to be fit for Birmingham's opening match at Fulham.
In brief . . .
Stewart Downing has signed a two-year contract extension with Middlesbrough . . . Bolton Wanderers are close to signing Fiorentina's Japan midfielder Hidetoshi Nakata on a year's loan . . . Portsmouth captain Arjan de Zeeuw has completed his move back to Wigan.
