Beleaguered Newcastle United have been dealt a major blow with a groin injury ruling star forward Michael Owen out of their weekend clash against Mark Hughes’ Manchester City.
Joe Kinnear’s side are currently third from bottom in the Premiership table, and have picked up just one point from their last five games. Their misery is compounded by the fact that Owen is their top scorer in the league this season, with three out of their seven coming from him.
According to reports in the Spanish press, Manchester United are considering a £5 million pound bid for Real Valladoid keeper Andres Sergio Asenjo. The 19 year old stopper is being looked at as a long term replacement for Dutch veteran Edwin Van der Sar, who is hanging up his boots soon.
This is not the first time a major club has shown interest in Asenjo. Aston Villa, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur were linked with him, and so were Barcelona. Asenjo reportedly had a £3.3m buyout clause (4.5 million euros) in his contract which was increased to around 6 million euros after he signed a new deal in January 2008.
League One side Carlisle United have secured the signing of veteran midfielder Graham Kavanagh from Sunderland on a one month loan deal.
Ex Republic of Ireland international Kavanagh arrived at the Stadium of Light from Wigan Athletic in August 2006 for £500,000. Two loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday followed as Kavanagh was unable to secure a first team spot. And with the likes of Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque, Grant Leadbitter and Dean Whitehead already in midfield, Kavanagh has become a fringe player at Sunderland.