St James' Suitors Offer No Way Back for Keegan

Kevin Keegan is unlikely to return to Newcastle United as manager because none of the seven parties who have registered an interest in buying the club has expressed a desire to bring him back.

Keith Harris, chairman of the investment bank Seymour Pierce, who is seeking a buyer for the club, said yesterday: "Nobody has said to us that it [Keegan's return] is a condition to go forward. There is a wealth of management talent available and no one has said it is a precondition that it is this manager, that manager or any other manager."

The owner, Mike Ashley, would like to see three consortiums vying for Newcastle. Seymour Pierce hopes to complete the sale by December but some analysts suspect it will take longer. "It's a reasonable assumption to say the new owner will not be a Brit," said Harris, who is thought to have attracted interest from the United States, the far east and middle east. Nigerian and South African consortiums have dropped out of contention.

Aston Villa are close to agreeing a new contract with Ashley Young that will make the 23-year-old the highest paid player at the club. Villa hope to announce by the end of the week that the winger has signed an extended deal worth about £2.5m a year, eclipsing Gareth Barry.

Martin O'Neill has described Thomas Sorensen's claim that the Villa manager set out to "destroy" his career as a "complete fabrication". The goalkeeper, who joined Stoke City in the summer, accused O'Neill of blocking moves to other clubs, but O'Neill said: "No club in the Premier League asked me about Thomas Sorensen."

Chelsea's right-back Jose Bosingwa is a doubt for the Premier League game at Middlesbrough on Saturday after injuring his right knee in training with Portugal on Tuesday. He missed last night's World Cup qualifer against Albania.