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British roundup BSkyB buys nine-percent stake in Leeds
Posted: Tuesday August 31, 1999 05:08 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Pay TV group BSkyB said on Tuesday it was taking a nine percent stake in Leeds Sporting Plc, parent company of Leeds United, and injecting 13.8 million pounds (US$22.1 million) into the Premier League club. BSkyB, 40 percent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, tried to buy European champions Manchester United but the move was blocked by the British government in April. The alliance will inject 9.2 million pounds of equity financing into Leeds and BSkyB is also paying a further 4.6 million pounds cash up front as part of the alliance. Leeds Sporting chairman Peter Ridsdale said the money would be made available to team manager David O'Leary. Leeds are sixth in the Premier League after finishing fourth last season. "The timing of this could not be better," Ridsdale said, pointing to the potential in Leeds' young team. BSkyB still owns a stake of more than 11 percent in Manchester United, but a BSkyB spokesman said this would be brought back under 10 percent. Premier League rules preventing ownership of more than one club do not apply to stakes of under 10 percent. BSkyB, which has exclusive live TV rights to Premier League matches, has been linked with a number of other clubs. The BSkyB spokesman did not rule out future investments but said there was nothing to announce at the moment. Some media analysts have said the stakebuilding is an attempt by BSkyB to cement its position with Premier League clubs before the current TV contract expires in 2001. The deal is similar to an agreement rival media company Granada agreed with Liverpool two months ago. BSkyB will act as exclusive media agent for Leeds for the next five years, barring rights negotiated collectively by the Premier League. BSkyB can advise Leeds on deals to sell rights to European matches and off-season tours. Revenues generated by the alliance will be split 70/30 between Leeds and BSkyB. BSkyB will appoint a non-executive to the Leeds board once the deal is in place. Leeds shares firmed slightly to 24.75p on Tuesday while BSkyB added 1.5p to 590p and Manchester United eased 1p to 229p. Anderton out for England; Campbell could be nextTottenham Hotspur midfielder Darren Anderton has pulled out of the England squad for Euro 2000 qualifiers against Luxembourg and Poland and he could soon be joined by team mate Sol Campbell. Meanwhile, England manager Kevin Keegan urged captain Alan Shearer to put behind him the current problems at Newcastle, where he was benched by coach Ruud Gullit, who subsequently resigned on Monday. Andreton withdrew on Tuesday due to an Achilles tendon injury. Campbell played just 27 minutes of his club's first game of the season three weeks ago before coming off injured. However Keegan has asked Campbell to report to England's training camp for a full fitness test. "George [Graham, Tottenham manager] and myself are not going to fall out over this... I just want him [Campbell] to report here," Keegan said on Tuesday. "That is not a lack of trust in Tottenham Hotspur but simply I do not want to set a precedent. "George understands my position and I fully understand his. "We both want Sol Campbell to be fit to play and we are both going to look after the player. "To be honest we are talking about two matches we have to win. I just want players to report for the big matches. "If there is even a slight chance that he could play then you want him to play." West Ham United defender Rio Ferdinand and Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp are also doubtful for the crunch matches. Keegan said their fitness would be assessed and that more players would be called up to the squad. "I am going to look again when the situation is crystal clear... I don't want to do it immediately. On about Wednesday or Thursday I will look at calling in extra players. England, facing a tough challenge to make the tournament playoffs, plays Luxembourg on Saturday at Wembley and Poland in Warsaw the following Tuesday. "I think the order of the games has been kind to us," Keegan said. "We can't complain about the build-up. We might like a few more players to be fit but that never happens. "I am reassured, though, looking at the players I have got available that we have real quality in the squad." Middlesbrough agrees to buy 17-year-old ArgentineEnglish Premier League club Middlesbrough has agreed a fee of 1.5 million pounds (US$2.40 million) to sign 17-year-old Arturo Marinelli from Boca Juniors. The highly rated teenager will meet 'Boro manager Bryan Robson later this week when Robson arrives in Argentina for talks with the player and his parents. Robson said on Tuesday: "The clubs have agreed a fee and I am taking advantage of the break in the league program to see the player and his parents. He is one of the most outstanding 17-year-olds I have ever seen. "He has great ability and I think he is a bit special. Most of my staff have seen a lot of him as Boca Juniors played in a summer tournament in Ireland and he impressed against us, Manchester United and Newcastle United. "He is an attacking player with great skill, speed and awareness. We think he could adapt to the English game and with a Spanish passport there would be no problems over a work permit." Robson has signed many foreigners since becoming manager of Middlesbrough four years ago, including Brazilian Juninho, Italian Fabrizio Ravanelli and Colombian Hamilton Ricard. Meanwhile, Brazilian midfielder Juninho will join Middlesbrough for the rest of the season on loan from Atletico Madrid, the player's father confirmed on Tuesday. "We now have an agreement between the two clubs," Osvaldo Giroldo said. "I believe it's the best solution for all concerned." Giroldo, who acts as his son's agent, said the only potential stumbling block could be obtaining a work permit for Juninho, who is currently out of the Brazilian national squad. Juninho, who moved from Middlesbrough to Spain for $19.7 million in 1997, fell out of favor during his second year at Atletico and came close to a move back to England. He decided to stay on only to find himself surplus to requirements in the eyes of new coach Claudio Ranieri, who took over at the start of the season.
Man United signs Italian 'keeper; nixes Naybet dealEuropean champions Manchester United completed the transfer of Italian goalkeeper Massimo Taibi from Venezia on Tuesday, but pulled out of a deal to sign Moroccan international defender Noureddine Naybet. In a statement which confirmed Taibi's arrival at Old Traffford, United added: "In respect of Noureddine Naybet, it has not been possible to complete all the necessary formalities before tonight's UEFA Champions League deadline, Manchester United have therefore withdrawn from negotiations." That will be a tremendous disappointment to the Moroccan, who was due to complete his 6.0 million pounds (US$9.5 million) move from Deportivo Coruna after being linked with a move to Liverpool last week. United has been rocked by injuries to defenders Wes Brown, Ronny Johnsen and David May and United manager Alex Ferguson has been on the hunt for a leading defender since the start of the season. Naybet, 29, whose previous clubs include Nantes and Sporting Lisbon, was close to signing for Real Madrid over the summer only for the move to break down after Real decided it could not find a place for another non-European Union player. Taibi, also 29, completed his 4.5 million pounds (US$7.19 million) move follows that of Mark Bosnich from Aston Villa in the summer. Bosnich is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Taibi arrived in Manchester after Venezia's match with Udinese on Sunday and saw United thrash Newcastle United 5-1 on Monday. Although Dutchman Raimond Van Der Gouw is a more than able substitute for Bosnich, Ferguson is known to want a younger goalkeeper in his squad. Taibi enjoyed five years at Piacenza and then played 17 times for AC Milan in the 1997-98 season before moving to Venice a year ago. Venezia were expected to sign Austrian international goalkeeper Michael Konsel from AS Roma as his replacement. "No deal has been agreed yet but there may be some news later in the day," a Venezia spokesman said. Konsel, 37, has lost his place in the Roma side to new signing Francesco Antonioli. Deportivo Coruna president Augusto Lendoiro said on Tuesday he was delighted that Nourredine Naybet's proposed move to Manchester United had broken down and said he expected the player to return refreshed and fully concentrated. Scottish soccer fans have parliamentary candidateA group of Scottish soccer fans plan to field their own candidate for Britain's parliament in a by-election next month in a bid to fire their homeless club's board and find a new home. Fans of second division Hamilton Academicals said on Tuesday they had decided to field Stephen Mungall as their standard bearer in the September 23 election to replace outgoing MP George Robertson, who will become the new NATO chief. Mungall told the BBC he hoped to use the campaign to publicise the plight of the club, which has been without a home for several years and shares the ground of Albion Rovers. Lambert leaves Scotland squadCeltic midfielder Paul Lambert withdrew on Tuesday from the Scotland squad for the European championship qualifiers against Bosnia and Estonia. He has not recovered from a knee ligament injury and misses the group nine matches in Sarajevo on Saturday and Tallin next Wednesday. Lambert, capped 20 times, was the second Celtic player to pull out of national coach Craig Brown's squad inside 24 hours. Clubmate Tom Boyd withdrew with a back problem.
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