Chelsea's chief executive Colin Hutchinson yesterday treated the idea of an exchange of Tore Andre Flo and Pierre van Hooijdonk with the disdain that the renegade Dutch striker has shown for Nottingham Forest.
Hutchinson said his club had no intention of bringing van Hooijdonk out of his soccer limbo in Holland, describing a projected swap of strikers as "nonsense".
Forest manager Dave Bassett had earlier reportedly said: "Flo is a player I admire greatly and he would have been an ideal replacement for Van Hooijdonk. Unfortunately, Chelsea weren't interested in taking Pierre."
But Hutchinson insisted that Flo, "is not for sale" and that Bassett "never proposed to Chelsea a Van Hooijdonk exchange" although he had asked last Saturday about player availability at Stamford Bridge but that "no names were mentioned".
Hutchinson also condemned as "absolute garbage" talk of a £2.5 million offer by Forest for Michael Duberry. The defender, too, was not available and even if he were, said Huchinson, "£2.5 million in today's market is laughable."
The Romanian defender Dan Petrescu, who will be allowed to leave, has seen any hopes of joining Ajax dashed. Hutchinson confirmed that the Dutch champions, after making an inquiry, "will not be proceeding with a bid."
Coventry yesterday completed the £3.15 million sale of Robert Jarni to Real Madrid, showing a £550,000 profit on the Croatian player who never kicked a ball for the Premiership club.
Earlier this month, Jarni become a Coventry player when he visited Highfield Road and Coventry paid £2.6 million to his previous club Real Betis. But Jarni changed his mind on returning to Spain.
David Beckham's visit to Upton Park on Saturday will see extra police deployed inside and outside Upton Park amid expectations of a fan backlash against the Manchester United player's sending-off in France 98.
David Batty has been given a further one-match ban for pushing a referee to add to the five-game suspension he is already serving.
The Newcastle United midfielder was sent off for punching Blackburn's Garry Flitcroft in the final game of last season and received a three-match suspension for violent conduct, plus a further two-game ban as it was his third red card of the season.
He faced an English FA disciplinary hearing yesterday on a misconduct charge for pushing the referee David Elleray during the match. The FA announced that the case had been proved and he had been banned for a further game and fined £1,500.
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