Ten days after Bobby Robson said that it was "make or break" in terms of Alan Shearer's troublesome knee injury, the former England captain appears to have made a breakthrough. Shearer visited his specialist in Paris on Monday and the news was good enough for the striker to be contemplating playing in Newcastle United's Intertoto Cup final against Troyes on Tuesday week.
Shearer, who turns 31 next Monday, returned from France on Tuesday and went straight back into training. "Things could hardly be better," he said. "I cannot wait to get back into the swing of things. I have experienced no pain and no stiffness, and I am doing everything in training like shooting and twisting. Chelsea a week on Sunday will be a bit too soon for me but this is followed by the Intertoto second leg on the Tuesday night. Who knows?"
If Shearer's progress does go according to his new timetable then his first Premiership game of the season will be against Sunderland at St James' Park on Sunday August 26. His last Premiership game was at Goodison Park at the beginning of March.
His fellow striker Carl Cort is also back in full training, leaving Kieron Dyer as the club's only long-term casualty.
Steve McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, returned to Manchester United yesterday to complete the signing of Jonathan Greening and Mark Wilson for a combined fee between £3.5m and £4m. The two midfielders, both 22, have become frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities at Old Trafford. Their purchase takes McClaren's spending over £10m this summer.
2525 Southampton's Dean Richards, a target for Glenn Hoddle in his bid to replace Sol Campbell at Tottenham, said yesterday he would welcome a move to White Hart Lane.
Richards, valued at £10m at Southampton, has four years left on a contract that he signed just before Hoddle moved to Tottenham in March but is viewed as the centre-back to fill the void left by Campbell at the heart of the Spurs defence.
"I have still got ambitions to play for one of the big clubs. I want to play for a top-six club and you must put Spurs in that bracket," Richards said. "That's what drives me on. I have heard nothing yet but let's see what happens.
"Supporters don't change clubs and they expect the same from players but they must respect players and understand that sometimes you must move to give yourself a better chance."
The former Leicester and Millwall goalkeeper Kasey Keller has agreed to join Besiktas. "Keller will meet with our technical director Christoph Daum, who will make the final decision himself," the Istanbul club's manager told the Anatolian news agency.
The US international became a free agent at the end of last season, when he played for the Madrid side Rayo Vallecano.
Greece have appointed the 63-year-old German Otto Rehhagel as their new coach, a vacancy that had interested the former England coach Terry Venables.
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