Jaap Stam may sit out Saturday's FA Cup final to ensure he is fit for the Champions League final. The Dutch international is having intensive treatment on his right Achilles tendon in a bid to recover for Manchester United's final two games of the season.
"Wembley can be quite an exacting pitch and a very tiring pitch," said United manager Alex Ferguson. "We will have to take that into account before naming the side."
Henning Berg will definitely miss the two finals after Ferguson confirmed he will not recover in time from his medial knee ligament injury.
Gerard Houllier has moved to strengthen Liverpool's defence by recruiting giant Finnish centreback Sami Hyypia in a near £3 million deal from Dutch side Willem II. Hyypia captained Willem the club to Champions League qualification. The 25-year-old will join the growing foreign legion at Anfield, which includes Dutch striker Erik Meijer - who will join on a free transfer from Bayer Leverkusen shortly - and Marseille forward Titi Camara.
Houllier has already signed Cameroon international Rigobert Song, fellow Frenchmen Jean Michel Ferri and Djimi Traore plus Norwegian teenage defender Frode Kippe since he took sole control of the club from Roy Evans in November.
The seven deals he has so far set up have cost less than £10million, with nearly £5million coming in from the sales of Steve Harkness and Jason McAteer.
Bolton Wanderers have been boosted by the fitness of central defender Mark Fish for today's first division play-off with Ipswich at Portman Road. Fish limped off after just 65 minutes in the first leg, which Wanderers won 1-0, complaining of calf problems.
West Ham manager Harry Redknapp has expressed an interest in re-signing defender Slaven Bilic from Everton. The Croatia international, who played 54 times for the east London side after joining in 1995, was sold to Everton in May 1997 for £4.5-million.
Speculation linking Martin O'Neill with the vacant manager's job at Nottingham Forest has been dismissed by Forest chief executive Phil Soar and John Elsom, the chairman of O'Neill's present club, Leicester.
Norwegian club Kongsvinger IL yesterday approached Celtic about the possibility of taking midfielder Vidar Riseth on loan during the summer.
Riseth is anxious to help out his former club as they are struggling at the foot of the table after seven successive defeats.
Former England international midfielder John Barnes has been released by relegated Charlton. Barnes, 35, joined the club earlier this season from Newcastle.
Andy Sinton, Roger Nilsen and Clive Wilson have all been given free transfers by Tottenham. They will be joined by Simon Brown, Lee Kersey and Alan Marriott as manager George Graham trims his squad.
Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler scored on his return from a six-match ban as his side won the Football League 100th Championship Challenge at Sunderland last night.
The England marksman was on target from the penalty spot to cancel out Allan Johnston's third-minute opener after the 100th champions had made the early running against the side who have claimed the title a record 18 occasions.Jamie Redknapp and Kevin Phillips made it 2-2 before Reds skipper Paul Ince saw his shot deflected past goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen for the winner 13 minutes from time.
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