Man United and Sporting Lisbon to link up
Sporting Lisbon claim they have reached an agreement in principle with Manchester United on a proposed link-up deal that will involve the exchanging of `players, knowledge and ideas on infrastructures'.
Kenyon: Deal will be signed soon
(StanleyChou/Allsport)
Lisbon president Miguel Ribeiro Teles insists the deal only has to be `legalised' before it can be signed.
Teles led a Sporting delegation that arrived in Manchester on Wednesday evening and held discussions with United chief executive Peter Kenyon, manager Sir Alex Ferguson and assistant coach and former Sporting boss Carlos Quieroz.
`Following the visit of the Sporting delegation to Manchester, which did not involve player negotiations, the club have in its possession the draft of a protocol to analyse in order to produce a final version which is to be signed in a subsequent meeting,' said a statement published on Sporting`s official website.
Kenyon added: `Manchester United pledge to sign the documentation as quickly as possible as it corresponds to the desire of the two clubs.'
United already have a similar link-up deal with Belgian outfit Antwerp and other links with sides in Ireland, Norway and Australia, but Teles believes the Sporting deal is more far-reaching than any of the Premiership giants` other link-ups.
`A solid base exists which will allow us to legalise the protocol set down from this meeting. The protocol in question includes much more than the co-operations that Manchester has with some clubs in the Nordic countries, Ireland, Belgium and Australia,' said Teles, who is looking forward to working with the Red Devils.
`We are speaking about one of the the biggest clubs in the world. One that is a model which has been pointed out for praise many times and a club from which we can always learn from in all levels.'
United have been linked with a move for Sporting`s 19-year-old starlet Ricardo Quaresma, who has been dubbed `the new Luis Figo`, but following Quieroz`s dismissal of the reports on Monday, Sporting were also quick to play down the speculation in the wake of Portuguese press reports.
`The agenda of the visit did not include the business of players, a subject on which some media reports have speculated intensely this week,' said the club`s statement.
Sporting Lisbon claim they have reached an agreement in principle with Manchester United on a proposed link-up deal that will involve the exchanging of `players, knowledge and ideas on infrastructures'.
Kenyon: Deal will be signed soon
(StanleyChou/Allsport)
Lisbon president Miguel Ribeiro Teles insists the deal only has to be `legalised' before it can be signed.
Teles led a Sporting delegation that arrived in Manchester on Wednesday evening and held discussions with United chief executive Peter Kenyon, manager Sir Alex Ferguson and assistant coach and former Sporting boss Carlos Quieroz.
`Following the visit of the Sporting delegation to Manchester, which did not involve player negotiations, the club have in its possession the draft of a protocol to analyse in order to produce a final version which is to be signed in a subsequent meeting,' said a statement published on Sporting`s official website.
Kenyon added: `Manchester United pledge to sign the documentation as quickly as possible as it corresponds to the desire of the two clubs.'
United already have a similar link-up deal with Belgian outfit Antwerp and other links with sides in Ireland, Norway and Australia, but Teles believes the Sporting deal is more far-reaching than any of the Premiership giants` other link-ups.
`A solid base exists which will allow us to legalise the protocol set down from this meeting. The protocol in question includes much more than the co-operations that Manchester has with some clubs in the Nordic countries, Ireland, Belgium and Australia,' said Teles, who is looking forward to working with the Red Devils.
`We are speaking about one of the the biggest clubs in the world. One that is a model which has been pointed out for praise many times and a club from which we can always learn from in all levels.'
United have been linked with a move for Sporting`s 19-year-old starlet Ricardo Quaresma, who has been dubbed `the new Luis Figo`, but following Quieroz`s dismissal of the reports on Monday, Sporting were also quick to play down the speculation in the wake of Portuguese press reports.
`The agenda of the visit did not include the business of players, a subject on which some media reports have speculated intensely this week,' said the club`s statement.
