United keen for Danilo to solve right-back problem
MANCHESTER UNITED are to continue their pursuit of Porto’s Danilo despite interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Brazil international, writes Duncan Castles. Porto are stalling on a £23.1m offer from Madrid for a player who has emerged as Louis van Gaal’s first choice for his problem right-back position. Barcelona are unable to sign anyone until January when the club’s two-window transfer ban will have been served, a position that appeals to Porto because it would allow them to retain Danilo’s services for a further six months. The powerful 23-year-old, who joined Porto from Santos, has a provisional agreement with Madrid on a contract worth £1.45m a year after tax, a figure United would be prepared to better. Madrid’s offer to Porto involves about £4.3m of performance-related bonuses and falls some £13m short of the defender’s release clause. United also remain in contact with Barcelona’s Dani Alves about a potential summer move but are yet to make an offer.
Barca ready to pounce after Madrid loss
BARCELONA can go top of La Liga today if they beat Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp after Real Madrid lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao last night, putting more pressure on their coach Carlo Ancelotti. Aritz Aduriz headed the 27th-minute winner for the Basque side. Zlatan Ibrahimovic warmed up for their Champions League tie at Chelsea with a 4-1 win against Lens, which took them top of Ligue 1.
Mowbray return ends in Coventry defeat
TONY MOWBRAY called his Coventry side ‘naive’ after their 3-2 home defeat by Port Vale. The former Middlesbrough and Celtic manager watched his new charges from the directors’ box when they lost 1-0 at Barnsley on Tuesday, but took control yesterday and only defeats for the three teams immediately below them kept the 1987 FA Cup winners from dropping into the League One relegation places. ‘We’re a pretty young team, pretty naive at times. When it got back to two-all, I thought only one team was going to win it, but unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.’ It started well with Jim O’Brien firing them into a fourth-minute lead, but strikes just before half time from Tom Pope and Mark Marshall put the visitors in front. Substitute Sanmi Odelusi equalised in the 70th minute before Michael O’Connor hit the winner with a 25-yard free kick.
Hasselbaink’s Burton rise to the top
FLORENT CUVELIER’S last-minute strike gave Burton a 1-0 win at bottom club Hartlepool to send Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side back to the top of League Two. They had lost their previous two matches. Shrewsbury were knocked off the summit after being held 1-1 at home by Cambridge United, for whom Sullay Kaikai struck the equaliser five minutes into stoppage time.
Keane gets Galaxy off to winning start
Robbie Keane was on target as Los Angeles Galaxy kicked off the new MLS season with a 2-0 home win against Chicago Fire, for whom former Aston Villa, Wigan and Celtic midfielder Shaun Maloney made his debut. Jose Villarreal put last season’s MLS Cup winners ahead in the 65th minute and Keane chipped in the second nine minutes from time.
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Powell calls for more women coaches
The former England coach Hope Powell has expressed her ‘devastation’ at the lack of fully qualified female coaches, and has called on governing bodies Fifa and Uefa to provide more opportunities to women, writes Rob Maul. Last month’s Fifa Women’s Football Survey, answered by 177 member associations, reported only ‘7% of coaches around the world are women’. Chelsea are the only one of the eight clubs in the top flight of the FA Women’s Super League to employ a female head coach/manager. Powell, who managed the England women’s team between 1998 and 2013, said at Fifa Women’s Football & Leadership Conference in Zurich: ‘We need more qualified females. Let’s get them qualitied. And while we are doing that, let’s give them the opportunities to utilise those skills.’