Soccer Shorts

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Essien tackles issue

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien defended his reputation yesterday after a string of controversial challenges recently, insisting: "I'm not a dirty player." Essien, who signed from Lyon this summer for £24.4 million, compared himself to combative former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira in claiming he needed time to adapt to English football.

Despite widespread criticism of challenges on Bolton's Tal Ben Haim, Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann and Arsenal's Lauren, he insisted he had never deliberately set out to hurt an opponent.

The 23-year-old Ghana international responded: "I feel the time is now right for me to speak about recent incidents in which I have been involved and I would like to make the following clear. During my career in football so far I have never gone out with the intention of hurting anyone in a tackle. Nothing I have ever done has been deliberate. I am not a dirty player. I have paid for a mistake on Dietmar Hamann with a suspension. That is sufficient punishment for someone like me who only ever wants to play football. Playing means everything to me."

Barca to move for Henry

Barcelona, who extended their lead in La Liga to five points after last night's 2-0 win over Celta Vigo in the Nou Camp, have confirmed they will make a move to sign Arsenal captain Thierry Henry. Henry's current contract runs out in the summer of 2007 and he has yet to agree a new deal at Highbury.

Barcelona star Ronaldinho has already publicly declared he would be delighted if Henry (28) could be tempted to leave Arsenal and move to the Nou Camp. And president Joan Laporta delivered an ominous warning to Arsenal. "We will do all we can to sign Henry," he said.

Ronaldinho also admitted he would welcome Chelsea's Frank Lampard as another summer signing by the Catalan giants. World and European Player of the Year Ronaldinho said: "I would not be unhappy at all if those two players signed for Barcelona."

Richardson on lookout

Damien Richardson is hoping to sign replacements for departing stars Liam Kearney and John O'Flynn over the coming days. The Cork City boss is having talks with agents representing players from the Czech Republic and Slovakia and was hopeful yesterday that deal can quickly be tied up to fill the gaps left by the pair who were key figures in this year's championship win, reports Emmet Malone.

"I'm still in the process of gathering as much information as I can and talking to the agents but there are certainly opportunities in this area now and that's what we're looking to take advantage of," he said. "With a bit of luck things will become a lot clearer over the next day or two."

Both Kearney and O'Flynn, who were out of contract with the club, informed Richardson earlier in the week that they would be moving on. O'Flynn is considering a number of offers including one from Swedish side Djugardens who last week failed to sign Jason Byrne from Shelbourne while Kearney is set to sign a six-month deal with Dutch outfit Herenveen. Greg O'Halloran signed for Shelbourne last week.

Blatter to get tougher

Fifa president Sepp Blatter said yesterday fines for racism in soccer had not been effective and called for a new tougher approach. Blatter told a news conference he hoped to agree a unified approach with confederations and national associations with defined penalties, including docking points and excluding clubs from competitions for persistent breaches.

Desailly could return

Former French captain Marcel Desailly wants to play another season in Europe with the Premiership his favoured destination. The 37-year-old former Chelsea defender, who is without a contract after leaving Qatar Sports Club, was approached by struggling Ligue 1 team Strasbourg last month. "I would love to play for a Premier league side again, a middle of the table club, for example."

In brief . . .

Nigeria striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni has decided not to take part in the African Nations Cup. The 23-year-old, who has scored 11 goals this season for Middlesbrough, blamed his poor relationship with Nigeria coach Austin Eguavoen for the decision not to participate in the finals in Egypt January 20th until February 10th.

Arsenal have secured the services of Mart Poom until the end of the season. The 33-year-old goalkeeper joined the Gunners in a three-month loan deal from Sunderland on August 31st as cover for Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia. The deal was expected to run out at the end of this year but has been extended until the end of the current campaign.

Aston Villa midfielder Steve Davis has signed a new three-and-a-half year contract with the Birmingham club. The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international, who had been linked to Manchester United, has been given improved terms by Villa.

Wigan Athletic have agreed an undisclosed fee for Brann Bergen's Austria defender Paul Scharner.

The agent for Celtic's Alan Thompson believes the club would consider a reasonable offer for the midfielder. Tony McGill met Celtic officials yesterday and was assured that they are not looking to sell the player. But McGill said that at least one Premiership club is weighing up an offer for him.

Portsmouth are to give Panathinaikos striker Emmanuel Olisadebe a trial with a view to signing him permanently.