Other soccer stories in brief

Shinawatra to keep his distance

THAKSIN SHINAWATRA has indicated he will stay away from Manchester City's Uefa Cup qualifying tie against the Danish side FC Midtjylland tonight as he contemplates the first stages of a legal battle to avoid extradition back to Thailand.

Five days after jumping bail and fleeing to London rather than risk being sent to prison on corruption charges, Thaksin is aware his presence at the City of Manchester Stadium could be unwelcome for Mark Hughes in what the manager, with a hefty amount of understatement, described yesterday as a "difficult week".

Hughes spoke of supporters being "upset and bewildered" because of the flood of negative publicity, although he reiterated that he would not resign despite his own problems adapting to the new regime.

City, he insisted, were "going in the right direction" and, to back up his point, he revealed that Thaksin was still wealthy enough for transfer money to be available. "I've been reassured," he said. "People may have been concerned that I wouldn't have the funds to bring in players but that's not the case."

Lampard signs five-year deal

FRANK LAMPARD became the highest paid player in the Premier League yesterday after signing a new five-year contract with Chelsea.

The England midfielder will earn close to €175,000 a week, some €11,275 more than the previous top earner, his club-mate John Terry, who extended his stay last year. It is believed Lampard's wages will drop slightly in the final 12 months of his deal, though, a compromise he accepted in return for such a lengthy contract.

Chelsea wanted to give the player, who recently turned 30, only four years, but decided to relent to end what has been one of the most protracted contract renegotiations in recent history. With only 12 months of his current deal remaining, there had been a genuine fear Lampard would leave Chelsea this summer, especially after Internazionale, now under the former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, tabled a €12.5 million bid for him last month. The offer was rejected and Lampard will now see out the rest of his career at the club he joined from West Ham for €13.78 million seven years ago.

Decision time for O'Neill

ASTON VILLA manager Martin O'Neill must decide whether to play England's Gareth Barry in the Uefa Cup second qualifying round first leg in Iceland tonight knowing it would almost certainty deliver the final blow to crumbling hopes of an €22.5 million move to Liverpool.

Barry came on as a 14th-minute substitute against Odense in the previous round and if he keeps his place against FH Hafnarfjordur he would not be eligible to play European football for Liverpool until February.

With Nigel Reo-Coker, Stilian Petrov, Wayne Routledge and Shaun Maloney all available, O'Neill does not need Barry.