Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson's No2 at Manchester United, has floated the possibility that he may leave the club at the end of the season because of his desire to return to management in his own right.
Queiroz had a tumultuous spell at Real Madrid, which ended with the sack in 2004 after only a year, but he does not seem to have been put off, saying he may decide to leave United for "other projects". He said he was waiting for offers, but he made it clear he was not against the idea of continuing to work with Ferguson.
"My deal finishes in June and it will have been three years for me," he said. "Whether I stay after that depends on the decision of Alex and the owners [the Glazers]." It is thought Queiroz, 53, may be trying to hurry United into making a new offer. Louis Saha hopes to be back for United's league game against Aston Villa a week on Saturday. A scan showed his groin injury was not as serious as feared.
Harry Redknapp has threatened to force Nwankwo Kanu to see out his contract at Portsmouth after reports that the Nigerian wants to join Ajax. After signing a one-year deal last August, Kanu has scored nine goals to keep Portsmouth in the top six of the Premiership and believes his performances merit a fresh contract.
Redknapp disagrees and, although he plans to offer Kanu another year at Fratton Park, he wants to wait until the end of the season before deciding. "Ajax haven't rung me yet," said the manager. "He can't go now, he has signed a year's contract. At the end of the year we will make up our mind. At the moment it looks every chance that I would love to have him for another year. I think he's great."
Kanu was quoted in a Nigerian newspaper as saying he wanted to return to Ajax, where he played from 1994 until 1996. Yesterday he denied the story. "I don't know who these people are that keep going on about Ajax," he said.
Redknapp is determined to keep Sol Campbell after reports linking the centre-back with Chelsea. "I never heard nothing at all about Sol," he said.