SOCCER: Alan Pardew is to ask the West Ham board to back him in an attempt to land Roy Keane. The Irishman left Manchester United on November 18th and has yet to indicate his plans but his wages at Old Trafford were estimated to be around £90,000 a week, prohibitive to most clubs.
However Pardew, whose side were beaten 2-1 at home by United on Sunday, said: "I'm sure there would be a queue of clubs interested in taking Roy but, if there was any chance he would come here, I hope we would try everything to get him to West Ham. We do have a wage structure but for a player of Roy's calibre I would ask the chairman and the board to do everything they could."
Celtic are favourites to land Keane and have invited him to make the first move but they would not contemplate wrecking their wage structure to bring in the former Ireland captain.
Wigan, Portsmouth, Bolton and Middlesbrough are also thought to remain interested in signing the 34-year-old - and intriguingly some bookmakers have stopped taking bets on him joining Everton - but Birmingham have ruled themselves out of the running. Joining Bolton, Wigan or Everton would mean Keane would not need to leave the north-west but he has never made a secret of his desire to play for Celtic at some stage of his career.
Meanwhile, David Beckham has admitted he would love to see Real Madrid launch a bid to land Keane. It would mean the midfield pair reuniting after operating in the midfield of the most successful team in United's history. Spanish newspaper Marca yesterday reported Keane is on a 10-man list of players Madrid may target in the January transfer window. Asked whether he would like to see Keane at the Bernabeu, Beckham said: "Of course. I think he's a great player and he's definitely got a few more years left in him."
After United last week pulled out of their pursuit of Michael Ballack, Zinedine Zidane yesterday stepped in to encourage his fellow midfielder to move to Real Madrid when his contract at Bayern Munich expires in the summer. Madrid are thought to be lining up Ballack as their next galactico after his refusal to agree new terms with the German champions. With a move to Old Trafford now appearing unlikely, Chelsea are considered the most likely challengers to Real for his signature.
Despite the fact Ballack would be competing with Zidane for a place in the team, the Frenchman would consider Germany's captain an excellent acquisition. "If there is someone with the qualities for Real Madrid, then that is Michael Ballack," Zidane said. "I won't give up my place that easily, but we would welcome him with open arms, although first of all he has to resolve his situation with Bayern. He plays in midfield like I do, but I have a lot of respect for him both as a player and as a person."
Ronaldinho completed a hat-trick of awards when he was named European Footballer of the Year last night. The 25-year-old Brazilian forward won the vote by European soccer journalists organised by French soccer magazine France Football after guiding Barcelona to last season's Primera Liga title.
Frank Lampard, an inspirational member of Chelsea's Premier League-winning side, came second in the vote while Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, who was instrumental in Liverpool's Champions League triumph, finished third.
Ronaldinho received the plaudits of international coaches when he was named Fifa World Player of the Year last December, an award he is tipped to retain next month. He was then honoured by his fellow professionals when he won the inaugural FIFPro World Player of the Year trophy in September.
Guardian Service
