A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Training-kit deal worth €45m
MANCHESTER UNITED announced a training-kit sponsorship deal yesterday saying they believed it was the first such agreement in English football.
United said they had agreed a four-year contract with express and logistics company DHL.
While the club did not give exact details, a source with knowledge of the deal said it was worth €45 million.
That is more than the Old Trafford team received in the early 2000s from a shirt agreement with Vodafone although it is less than the €91 million media reports have said their existing shirt deal with insurance brokerage Aon was worth.
“This deal breaks new ground in the English game,” United chief executive David Gill said in a statement.
“We are delighted DHL has chosen to pioneer training kit sponsorship with the club.”
Players strike threat to Serie A
THE ITALIAN players’ association have warned they will strike unless a new collective contract is signed before the start of the Serie A season this weekend.
The players’ representatives of all 20 Serie A clubs met in Milan yesterday to reaffirm their demand for the league to sign a new deal.
“We reiterate our position,” said players’ association president Damiano Tommasi. “If the contract is signed, we will play on Saturday or Sunday. Otherwise, we will stay at home.
The union AIC was especially unhappy about clubs trying to force players to move in the last year of their contracts and to train alone.
In Spain, where there were no matches in the top two divisions due to a dispute over unpaid wages, a meeting yesterday between the two sides saw little progress made.
Kyrgiakos joins Wolfsburg
LIVERPOOL DEFENDER Sotirios Kyrgiakos has joined Wolfsburg after signing a two-year contract, the German club have confirmed.
Kyrgiakos made 49 appearances for Liverpool after joining the club from AEK Athens in the summer of 2009. The 32-year-old made 28 of those last term.
Inter Milan ‘want to sign’ Kuyt
DIRK KUYT’s agent claims Inter Milan have made an offer for the Liverpool forward. Inter are looking for striking reinforcements with Samuel Eto’o poised to join Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala and Kuyt is on their list of targets.
The Italians have held a long-term interest in the Holland international and they tried to sign Kuyt last summer while former boss Rafa Benitez was still in charge at the San Siro.
Kuyt’s representative Rob Jansen admits the 31-year-old needs to think about the offer from Inter.
“Inter Milan have made an attractive offer for Dirk and he has to think about it,” Jansen said. “However, the two clubs have yet to agree a deal.”
It is unlikely Liverpool would be willing to sell Kuyt as he enjoyed a strong second half to last season and he was rewarded with a contract extension to keep him at Anfield until 2013.
Kuyt was left out of Liverpool’s starting line-up for the opening draw at home to Sunderland, but he returned to the first XI for the weekend win at Arsenal.
Obi Mikel’s father released
JOHN OBI Mikel’s father has been released by the kidnappers who abducted him 10 days ago, the Chelsea midfielder’s agent confirmed last night.
Michael Obi, who runs a transport company, had not been seen or heard from since he failed to return home from work in Jos, the capital of Plateau State in central Nigeria, on August 12th.
He is thought to have been found in Kano, 180 miles north of where he was abducted and reports in Nigeria claim his abductors have been arrested by police.
Mikel’s management company SEM released a statement confirming that the Nigerian player’s father had been released.
The statement does not reveal whether a ransom was paid.
McCarthy insists Doyle will not be leaving Wolves
WOLVES manager Mick McCarthy has made it clear he will be firmly turning down any bids for Kevin Doyle, suggesting it would “rip the heart out” of the club to lose such a player at this stage of the season.
Doyle – who scored in Sunday’s 2-0 home win over Fulham which maintained Wanderers’ 100 per cent start to the English Premier League campaign – has been linked with a move away from Molineux as the transfer window draws to a close.
“I think the end of the transfer window should coincide with the start of the season,” said McCarthy. “We have started well, but can you imagine what that would do if someone took one of my best players away – not only to me, but to all the other players, to the club? It would just rip the heart out of it.
“Somebody like (summer signing) Roger Johnson has come here with the belief that we were keeping all our players – Jamie O’Hara is the same. I don’t think it’s going to happen, but I would be telling them to get lost.”
Juventus, Arsenal and Liverpool are reported to be interested in the Republic of Ireland striker, who insists the speculation has not affected him. “It didn’t put me off at all – it was funny. It’s better being linked with those teams, I suppose.”
