Premiership News

Sir Alex Ferguson, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney all admitted Barcelona were the better side following the Champions League final defeat.
The Red Devils never got into the match after a promising opening 10 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, with goals from Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi doing the damage. Ferguson felt Barca won the game in midfield rather than with their attacking trio of Eto'o, Messi and Thierry Henry.The Scot said: "Lionel Messi wasn't the problem, Xavi and Andres Iniesta kept the ball all night and made it difficult for us."Giggs felt United simply failed to gel and praised Pep Guardiola's side's ability to keep the ball.He said: "We said whoever turned up on the night would win and that proved to be the case. They turned up and played some great football - we didn't really."Meanwhile, Rooney claimed Iniesta is now the best player in the world - and not Messi or club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo.He added: "Barcelona are a brilliant team and in my opinion Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world."


Liverpool have been handed a major boost with the news that Fernando Torres has signed a new deal at the club until 2013.

The Spanish ace has had a season plagued by injury but his influence is massive and he scored his 50th goal for the club in the final match against Spurs last Sunday. The new deal is said to reflect his standing as one of the best strikers in the world and it also contains an option for a further year. Reds manager Rafael Benitez told the club's website: "Fernando is one of the best strikers in the game today and, at his age, can only get better. "Every major side would want him in their team, but he has shown how much he wants to achieve success at Liverpool by committing his future to the club. He's a special talent, but still has the hunger to improve his game."

Sven Goran Eriksson's agent Athole Still has admitted the former England manager would be interested the manager's job at Portsmouth.

Paul Hart has been in charge in a caretaker role since the departure of Tony Adams and may decide he wants to stay on himself but with a new takeover just around the corner they may be on the hunt for a bigger name. Eriksson's name has emerged as a potential candidate following news of Sulaiman Al Fahim's prospective takeover at the club and he is a free agent after being released by Mexico."There has been no official contact whatsoever," the former City manager's agent, Athole Still, told setanta.com."He is looking forward to getting back into club management and wants to be back in The Premier League."It's a club with money and a club that looks like it will have ambition, which is very important to any top manager."Of course it would be a club that interests him."


Dwight Yorke is among seven players released by Sunderland with David Connolly, Arnau Riera and Darren Ward also shown the door.
Former Manchester United star Yorke, 37, has made 56 appearances for Sunderland scoring six goals but hardly featured for the Black Cats this season. Goalkeeper Nick Colgan and young defenders Peter Hartley and Niall McArdle have also been released by the Wearsiders as the club look to reshape their squad after narrowly avoiding relegation last season.Sunderland's survival came as a massive relief to Ellis Short, the Texas-based billionaire who confirmed his decision to complete a 100 per cent takeover of Sunderland yesterday, who was in the crowd as Sunderland went down 3-2 at home to Chelsea.