PELE: RONALDO SHOULD STAY

Pele yesterday joined the Cristiano Ronaldo ‘slavery’ debate by insisting the player should see out his contract with Manchester United. Pele was at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium with Archbishop Desmond Tutu to unveil a statue of England World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks before a charity match, right. The Brazil legend said comments by Fifa president Sepp Blatter that players were treated like slaves were wrong. ‘You’re a slave if you don’t get paid,’ said Pele. ‘If you have a contract then you have to finish it.’ Banks agreed. ‘I can’t understand why he [Ronaldo] said he felt he was being treated like a slave. If he has just signed a new contract then he should respect his manager and honour it,’ he said. ‘It’s stupid. I don’t understand what the problem is. He plays for a team that has just won the European Cup and the Premier League. He plays for his country. What more does he want? It’s like anything in life. If a businessman signs a contract then he has to honour it’

VILLA LAND USA KEEPER

Aston Villa have sealed a £3m deal to sign goalkeeper Brad Guzan from American side Chivas USA. Subject to gaining a work permit, the 23-year-old, who has won five caps for the US and was last season’s Major League Soccer goalkeeper of the year, will be the latest American keeper to join the Premier League, following in the footsteps of Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard and Marcus Hahnemann

ROCHA IN HULL TALKS

Ricardo Rocha, Tottenham’s Portuguese international defender, could be on his way to join Premier League newcomers Hull City. The 29-year-old was at Hull’s training ground on Friday but Paul Duffen, Hull’s chairman, admits negotiations have a long way to go

BABEL OLYMPIC ROW

Liverpool winger Ryan Babel is on a collision course with manager Rafa Benitez over his desire to play for Holland at the Beijing Olympics. Benitez is worried about the ankle injury that kept Babel out of Euro 2008 but Foppe de Haan, the Dutch Olympic football coach, believes the 21-year-old will be fit enough and should be allowed to make up his own mind. ‘Other Liverpool players are also going to Beijing, so why not him?’ he said

MILAN IN FOR CUT-PRICE ADEBAYOR

Arsenal have slashed their asking price for unsettled Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor, opening the way for him to join AC Milan. Vincenzo Morabito, Adebayor’s agent, said Arsenal have almost halved the original £35m price tag on the 24-year-old. ‘We’re working to make the deal easier,’ said Morabito on Italian televison. ‘We're arriving at more reasonable figures. They’re still a lot, but much less than the €45m they initially asked for.’ Milan said last month that Adebayor was their only summer target, but later announced they could not afford him

IT’S UP TO LAMPARD, SAY INTER

Massimo Moratti, the Inter Milan president, said yesterday that it is now up to Frank Lampard whether he leaves Chelsea for Italy. Jose Mourinho, Inter’s coach and Lampard’s former manager at Chelsea, says he would like the England midfielder in his squad. Lampard’s Chelsea contract has a year to run and so far the club have said they won’t sell despite failing to persuade him to sign new terms. ‘We have made our offer to Chelsea, now it will depend on the player,’ said Moratti. ‘He is an element we like, but more than this we cannot do’

FIRST WITH THE NEWS

The Sunday Times proved to be spot on once more with Friday’s news that Manchester United had offered £20m for Tottenham striker Dimitar Berbatov - as we predicted on June 8 . We also forecast last Sunday that Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant, would be leaving Old Trafford to become coach of Portugal side, a story that was confirmed by the announcement that he had accepted a four-year contract

RONALDINHO DEFIES BARCELONA

Ronaldinho, out of favour at Barcelona, is ready to break his contract to go to the Beijing Olympics with Brazil. A report in Rio newspaper O Globo yesterday said the two-time Fifa player of the year will this week tell Barça of his determination to play in China, adding: ‘If Barcelona insist on not allowing him to play, he will break his contract’

BIG FOUR LEAD TV KICK-OFF

Last season’s Premier League top four are all in live televised action on the opening weekend of the new season. The curtain-raiser on Saturday, August 16, is West Bromwich Albion's visit to Arsenal, while the following day, Chelsea host FA Cup winners Portsmouth. Manchester United entertain Newcastle in Sunday's second game. All three matches are on Sky, while Setanta offer Sunderland v Liverpool on the Saturday evening

SKY BLUE EASTWOOD Coventry yesterday signed former Southend striker Freddy Eastwood from Championship rivals Wolves for a fee believed to be around £1.2m

EVERTON LOAN FOR SERB KEEPER Sporting Lisbon goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic is to train with Everton with a view to joining on loan. The Serbian has returned to his homeland to secure a visa to allow him to link up with the Everton squad tomorrow. Reports in Portugal claim Sporting have agreed to allow Stojkovic to spend next season at Goodison with Everton having an option to make the move permanent for £2.4m

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