Uzbekistan Club Claims They've Signed Eto'o!

Uzbekistan League side Kuruvchi claim to have reached a deal to sign Barcelona forward Samuel Eto'o - though the Catalan giants have laughed off the news.

Eto'o, who has been told he is not part of coach Pep Guardiola's plans, is expected to leave the Nou Camp this summer and has been linked with moves to Serie A and the Premier League.

On Monday morning, though, the Uzbekistan League leaders announced in an official statement on their website that they had landed the 27-year-old forward on a six-month deal.

The news was confirmed by Kuruvchi sporting director Bahtier Babayev, who has said Eto'o will sign with the club later this week on a contract to be determined by performances.

"Eto'o will arrive in Tashkent on Thursday and he will sign a contract with our club, at least up until the end of 2008," Babayev said.

"The term of the contract will depend on our performance in the AFC Champions League. We will play Saipa in the quarter-finals and Eto'o is our main purchase before the knockout stage of the tournament.

"If we can agree with the player, he will continue to play for our club in the future."

Babayev also insisted that the seemingly unlikely transfer had been made possible due to good relations between the Primera Liga side and the Tashkent club.

"The defining moment of the transfer was not money, but the friendly mutual relations between the management of our club and Barcelona," he said.

"The personal friendship between presidents of the clubs has noticeably lowered the transfer fee."

The official club statement which confirmed the transfer read: "(Kuruvchi have) signed a contract with Cameroonian forward Samuel Eto'o from Barcelona.

"The striker will arrive in Tashkent on July 17 and will play in the second half of the championship of Uzbekistan."

However, despite the Uzbekistan club's insistence that the transfer will go ahead, Barcelona denied any knowledge of the move.

An official spokesperson for the Nou Camp side said: "Nobody at the club knows anything about this. I don't think it's very likely."

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Spurs To Replace Berbatov With Santa Cruz?

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly identified Blackburn Rovers' Roque Santa Cruz as their preferred replacement for Dimitar Berbatov if the Bulgarian striker moves to Manchester United.



The Premier League champions are understood to have tabled a £20m bid for Berbatov on Friday and reports that Spurs are monitoring Santa Cruz's availability would seemingly indicate that they are resigned to selling the want-away Berbatov.

While Spurs rejected United's £20m offer, The Daily Mail reports that Sir Alex Ferguson 'is confident that, given the striker's burning desire for a return to Champions League football, an offer of around £25m will persuade Spurs to do business, with the fee possibly rising to £30m with performance related add-ons'.

With Darren Bent expected to leave, most probably for Sunderland, and Liverpool interested in recruiting Robbie Keane, Spurs would be loath to sell Berbatov without signing at least one other alternative striker. The Mail claims that Juande Ramos has made 'Santa Cruz his top priority', but Spurs could face competition for his services from north London rivals Arsenal if Emmanuel Adebayor leaves the Gunners.

Interestingly, The Mail adds that 'Ramos is believed to favour playing a lone striker with three men in support' and 'plans to make Luka Modric and Giovanni dos Santos two of the three and wants Espanyol forward Luis Garcia or Blackburn's David Bentley to complete the trio'.

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Sir Cancels Ronaldo Visit For Berbatov Chase

Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly cancelled plans to fly to Lisbon for peace talks with Cristiano Ronaldo in order to focus his attention on the task of buying Dimi Berbatov from Tottenham.



A week after returning to work following a one month holiday in the south of France, Ferguson was due to travel to Portugal for his first meeting with Ronaldo since a party at Old Trafford on May 22 to commemorate their Champions League triumph. It is thought that Ronaldo and Ferguson have not spoken, even on the telephone, since then, and the Manchester United manager has stubbornly refused to acknowledge Ronaldo's apparent desire to leave the club for Real Madrid.

However, according to The Times, Ferguson was 'ready to spring into action by flying to Portugal this morning to try to end the unedifying stand-off, but that trip has been cancelled, seemingly because the United manager has other priorities'.

That includes recruiting Berbatov, with United set to table a second and improved bid for the Bulgarian after Spurs rejected their opening offer of £20m on Friday. Berbatov, who is currently in Spain at Tottenham's pre-season training base, has made no secret of his wish to move to Old Trafford.

Yet the disclosure that Ferguson has cancelled plans to visit Ronaldo - The Times are unsure whether a meeting was scheduled or if the Scot was simply intent on arriving unannounced - is bound to be interpreted as evidence that he is now resigned to losing the Portuguese forward this summer.

'Visiting Ronaldo would have been a significant gesture from Ferguson - an act that was encouraged by Carlos Queiroz, who left his role as United assistant manager on Friday to take charge of Portugal,' reports The Times.

'Two summers ago, when Ronaldo was again making eyes at Real while fearing the fallout from his involvement in Wayne Rooney's red card for England against Portugal in the World Cup quarter-final, Ferguson succeeded in persuading him to return to Old Trafford, but there will be no such meeting this time unless the Scot can somehow find time to fly to Lisbon tomorrow before departing for South Africa the following day for the start of United's preseason tour.'

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Ferdinand Likely To Escape Heavy FA Sanction

Rio Ferdinand seems certain to escape any formal sanction over his part in last season's fracas that followed Manchester United's clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last season.

Reports have emerged of a possible four-match ban for the Manchester United defender - which could rule him out of England's friendly with the Czech Republic on August 20 and scupper his chances of being appointed as Fabio Capello's new captain.

Given Ferdinand has already suffered the misery of serving an eight-month ban for a missed drugs test in 2004, it would be the worst kind of news possible for the 29-year-old Londoner and somewhat bizarre given it was United's complaints about the treatment of their players that led to the inquiry in the first place.

Ferdinand apologised after accidentally kicking a female steward in frustration following his side's defeat.

However, sources close to the investigation into events that took place at Chelsea immediately after the key showdown, which finished in acrimony as the home side won thanks to a hotly disputed late penalty, have been left bemused by the speculation surrounding Ferdinand.

For, while the official report is still being compiled, there has been no suggestion Ferdinand will face any penalty, let alone miss the opening four matches of the season.

And, although such a move would be bad news for United, who are already without Cristiano Ronaldo for an extended period following the winger's recent ankle operation, even in the unlikely event of Ferdinand being punished, it would not affect his availability for England.

It has been pointed out that Alan Smith, Lee Bowyer, Jonathan Woodgate and Ferdinand's major rival for the captaincy, John Terry, have been deliberately overlooked for selection by England in recent times.

However, in those instances, it was a policy decision taken by the FA until police or court action against the individuals concerned had been concluded.

Similarly, there is no link with Ferdinand's own lengthy ban because it covered all football, both for club and country.

It means that whatever the outcome of the FA's investigation Ferdinand will be available for the Czech Republic game, before which Capello intends to name his new skipper, having tried out four men for the post.

The FA meanwhile are continuing their own investigations into the Stamford Bridge clash, although as yet, no timescale for a definitive decision has been reached.

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Ronaldinho Set To Snub Manchester For Milan

Ronaldinho is due to hold talks with his club Barcelona and AC Milan on Monday in a bid to finalise his move to the Serie A side.

The Brazilian star has been told he is not needed at the Nou Camp following a dip in form last season and the recent appointment of Pep Guardiola as the club's new manager.

Manchester City have a long-standing interest in bringing Ronaldinho to the Premier League, but now look set to miss out on the World Cup winner.

Milan's Spanish consultant Ernesto Bronzetti has spoken to the talented playmaker, and claims Ronaldinho has given verbal assurances that Carlo Ancelotti's side is his preferred destination.

Ronaldinho, accompanied by his brother and agent, Roberto de Assis, is reported to be due to fly from Brazil to Barcelona for a meeting with Barca technical director Txiki Begiristain and Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani.

Bronzetti told Gazzetta dello Sport: "I spoke with Ronaldinho as he was leaving Porto Alegre for Barcelona and he told me I want to play for you'."

The consultant also claimed that the Italian side will release Ronaldinho for Brazil's attempt to win their first Olympic gold in China this summer.

He added: "I believe that Galliani has already said yes to him."

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Winterburn (Not Sarah) Is New Blackburn Coach

Nigel Winterburn is to join Paul Ince's backroom team at Blackburn to work as defensive coach.

The former Arsenal full-back will travel with the team to their pre-season training camp in Germany on Wednesday.

Rovers chairman John Williams said: "Pulling together a new backroom team with the right balance of skills, experience and ideas across sports science, recruitment and coaching is clearly important and we are nearly there now."

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Shevchenko eyes up Sampdoria move

Chelsea misfit Andriy Shevchenko will join Sampdoria on loan as soon as the Genoa side sort out his wage demands, Italian media reported on Sunday.

"''Sheva would be happy to join us, but there are problems around his wages," Sampdoria''s general manager Beppe Marotta told the Secolo XIX newspaper.

"Many top class players like Sampdoria and a deal is entirely plausible."

The Ukrainian, who has scored just nine times in 47 Premier League games for Chelsea, is seen as the man to end Sampdoria''s problems in front of goal.

"We have a way to resolve our problems upfront with a figure able to stir up the crowd as well as put the ball in the back of the net," said Marotta.

Shevchenko has endured two difficult seasons at Chelsea after moving from AC Milan for 30 million pounds (37 million euro) in 2006.

The 31-year-old has been consistently linked with a move back to Italy, with his former club favourites to secure his signature.

If successful, Sampdoria''s move could reap the kind of rewards as that of last year''s loan signing Antonio Cassano.

Brought in from Real Madrid in August, the fiery Italian scored 10 goals to earn an international call-up to Italy''s Euro 2008 squad.

"We''re in the same situation with Sheva as we were with Cassano," Marotta added. "The Cassano move is a difficult thing to replicate, but never say never."

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