SOCCER DIGEST:THE English Premier League and Barclays yesterday agreed a new three-year title sponsorship deal worth €89.5 million to top-flight clubs. The new deal has come after league chiefs initially rejected a lower offer from the bank.
Barclays have sponsored the Premier League since 2004 and their current three-year contract, which expires next year, was worth €71.5 million.
The increase in the value of the deal reflects the continuing strength of the Premier League in a sponsorship market which has been badly affected by the economic downturn in other areas of sport.The deal will run from the 2010-’11 season to the end of the 2012-’13 season.
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MIDDLESBROUGH chairman Steve Gibson hopes to finally unveil Gordon Strachan as the club’s new manager on Monday. It emerged yesterday that an expected announcement of Gareth Southgate’s successor will not now come over the weekend.
However, sources on Teesside insist there is no hitch and that the delay is simply down to putting the finishing touches to the deal.
It is understood Strachan will not now watch Middlesbrough from the stands at Preston today, but his former Celtic number two Gary Pendry could.
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BARCELONA have confirmed they have reached “an agreement in principle” with Carles Puyol to extend his contract until 2013.
The Barca captain, whose current deal was set to expire next summer, will sign the three-year extension in the next few days.
Puyol came through the ranks at the Catalan giants and has been a mainstay of the back four since making his debut in 1999.
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REAL Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is targeting the Champions League clash at AC Milan as his comeback date.
It had been expected Ronaldo would be out of action for around a month after limping out of Portugal’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary on October 10th with an ankle injury. But the 24-year-old is confident he will be on the pitch at the San Siro come November 3rd.
Before his injury Ronaldo had scored nine goals in his seven competitive games since moving from Manchester United.
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ATLETICO Madrid yesterday announced the sacking of coach Abel Resino following a poor start to the season. The Primera Division outfit decided to act in the wake of Wednesday night’s 4-0 Champions League drubbing by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
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BRAZILIAN Carlos Alberto Parreira has been appointed South Africa coach for the 2010 World Cup finals, resuming a job he left 18 months ago.
Parreira was named to succeed compatriot Joel Santana, who was fired on Monday after a run of poor results for the World Cup hosts in recent warm-up matches.
The 66-year-old Parreira was first approached in 2006 to build a competitive side for South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup finals but quit after 21 matches in charge in April 2008 when his wife fell ill with cancer.
