Robbie Fowler has been told he will be Liverpool's captain for the start of the forthcoming season. Coming less than 24 hours after speculative claims that Middlesbrough were chasing Fowler for £15 million, Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier's confirmation of the striker's position at Anfield is conclusive.
Fowler will captain the team in the absence of Jamie Redknapp, who will be out until Christmas with a knee problem that will need a second operation next week. Houllier has underlined Fowler's position by saying: "Robbie is the vice-captain and, because of Jamie's injury, if Robbie plays he is captain. Otherwise Sami (Hyypia) will step in."
Liverpool take part in the Carlsberg Challenge in Belfast from August 3rd-5th, where they will play Glentoran and Benfica.
Roy Keane is determined to make sure no one else will get their hands on the Premiership trophy after admitting he feels sick when he sees other teams parading silverware.
The Manchester United captain claims it hurt seeing Chelsea captain Dennis Wise hoist aloft the FA Cup, while he could barely watch Real Madrid's success in the Champions League Final.
"It makes me feel physically sick to see other teams parading the trophies," said Keane. "I don't want any other captain to be lifting the Premiership trophy.
"It was horrible to see Arsenal lifting the double a couple of years back and seeing Chelsea win the FA Cup this year. I could barely watch the Champions League final as well - that hurt."
United's Ronny Johnsen will be fit for the Premiership kick-off. The versatile Norwegian international had surgery on both knees in August and returned in April only to suffer more problems which eventually forced him to withdraw from his country's Euro 2000 campaign.
Danish star Thomas Gravesen flies into Merseyside today for a medical and to discuss personal terms with Everton before clinching his £2.5 million move from Hamburg. The German club yesterday confirmed the deal would go ahead and gave their tough utility defender permission to open talks over a proposed four-year contract.
Everton yesterday moved a giant step closer to moving from their Goodison Park home. A new report into the future of the stadium and the prospects of moving to a new site has been made public confirming that a new ground is the best option.
It has been revealed that redeveloping Goodison Park will cost at least £50 million, could take several years to acquire land and houses and to move a local school - and would then be unlikely to be much larger than a 45,000 capacity, which is well below Everton's needs to compete at the top level.
Joan Gaspart told a press conference yesterday if he is elected the new president of Barcelona on Sunday, he will go to London the next day to start negotiations with Arsenal for the Netherlands winger Marc Overmars and France midfielder Emmanuel Petit.
Gaspart has also targeted Spaniards Alfonso (Real Betis) and Ivan de la Pena (Lazio).
Alan Curbishley has smashed Charlton's transfer record by signing £4 million Claus Jensen. Curbishley finally landed a big signing in a hectic summer which has seen him miss out on Don Hutchison and other transfer targets.
Rangers appear to have dropped their interest in signing Belgium star Emile Mpenza after his club Schalke 04 failed to accept their bid of £6.5 million.
Schalke insisted the player was worth more the bid on offer, but Rangers were not prepared to become involved in protracted negotiations for the player.
Real Madrid's French striker Nicolas Anelka will join Paris St Germain on a six-year deal next week after the clubs agreed a French record transfer fee of 220 million francs ($31.2 million), French daily Le Parisien reported yesterday.
