Sunday, July 26, 2009

Bolton sign Knight and Ricketts Bolton Wanderers have signed defenders Zat Knight from Aston Villa and Sam Ricketts from Hull City.The pair have agreed three-year deals at the Reebok Stadium after arriving for undisclosed fees.

They are Bolton boss Gary Megson's third and fourth signings this summer as he looks to strengthen his squad.

Megson has already picked up midfielder Sean Davis from Portsmouth while defender Paul Robinson signed from West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan.

After impressive displays for Fulham, centre-back Knight, 29, was capped by England against Colombia and the United States of America in 2005.

The 6ft 6ins defender joined Villa from Fulham in 2007 for £3.5m but has struggled for regular first-team football and started only 13 Premier League games last season. Full-back Ricketts, 27, who has 34 caps for Wales, started 27 of the Tigers' Premier League games last season and has made 129 appearances for Hull in his three years on Humberside.Megson is also close to bringing in South Korean Lee Chung-Yong from FC Seoul according to the K-League side.

The 21-year-old international spent last week on trial with Bolton and his club side said they expect a £2.1m deal to be completed soon.

"The contract will be signed officially after a work permit is issued," FC Seoul said in a statement.

Lee returned to Seoul on Friday confident the deal would go ahead.

"In about 15 days I should get the work permit. Until it comes, I will spend my time training as hard as possible," he said.

"To adjust quickly, I need to get to know my team-mates. I met manager Gary Megson a few times. He spoke to me but as I can't speak English, I couldn't understand him."

football

Skrtel injury worry for Liverpool
A scan revealed the 24-year-old has strained his hamstring and he is expected to be out for three weeks.

Striker Nabil El Zhar, 22, also limped off in the same game after spraining a medial ligament in his right knee, which will keep him out for four weeks.

Both players have flown home and will miss Sunday's match against Singapore.

Full-back Glen Johnson will also sit out the final friendly of the club's Far Eastern tour in order to rest his Achilles injury.

However, Real Madrid target Xabi Alonso and Israeli star Yossi Benayoun successfully came through training after recovering from ankle injuries and will be available to play.Liverpool get their season underway on Sunday, 16 August against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, a match which Skrtel is now doubtful for.The Slovakia international featured 30 times for Liverpool last season and his absence would be a major blow to manager Rafael Benitez.

El Zhar has only started four games since arriving at Anfield from French side St Etienne in 2006 but Benitez recently handed the Moroccan a new deal to tie him to the club until 2012.

Midfielder Steven Gerrard, who missed the Reds' Far East pre-season tour in order to attend a court case, will not join up with the club for the Singapore game despite being found not guilty of affray.

"We were in touch with him every day and knew what was happening and we were confident everything would be okay," said Benitez.

"Now we need to take care of him, he must rest.

"I have to protect my players. We have already lost two to injury, Martin Skrtel and Nabil El Zhar."

Fans in Asia had been disappointed at missing out on seeing Gerrard whose image was used prominently in promotional material to sell tickets.

"I'm sorry for the fans that we can't bring Gerrard but he is the captain of the team so he is a key player for the rest of the season," added Benitez.

"I hope the fans can respect the decision. We have other big names like Pepe Reina, Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano and they are all here."