Makelele's demands delay Chelsea deal
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Your support makes all the difference.Claude Makelele is threatening to retire from football unless Real Madrid give him a percentage of the £12m transfer that Chelsea want to pay for the midfielder.
The France international's bizarre stance came last night as the long-awaited move hit a new snag just hours before the deadline. Makelele is in London to complete the transfer but he and his agent demanded a percentage of the sale - around £2m - and were refused.
The player's agent, Marc Roger, then told the Spanish club that Makelele was so fed up with their attitude that he would retire from the game and leave them with nothing. Chelsea still hope to complete the transfer but this latest row has held it up and may even scupper the whole deal.
The Blackburn Rovers manager, Graeme Souness, completed his "dream" transfer spree by signing the Italian veteran midfielder Dino Baggio last night. He joins Rovers on loan from Lazio for a year after Souness craftily moved out Egil Ostenstad and Gordon Greer to pay for his wages.
Baggio gives Souness the extra midfield option he wanted despite the arrival of Barry Ferguson from Rangers. "Dino has not played for a year but he has shown us enough in training to tell us he is a top-quality player," Souness said.
"From a manager's point of view this has been a good period," he added. "I could not have believed in my wildest dreams that I would have signed all of these players." The veteran striker Ostenstad has joined Rangers, while the centre-half Greer is about to join Kilmarnock in a permanent move.
The Leeds United manager, Peter Reid, flew in another possible bargain recruit at the weekend when the Marseille striker Cyril Chapuis arrived for talks. The experienced forward could join Leeds on a season-long loan today.
Chapuis has been chasing a move to the Premiership but turned down Everton after they wanted him to come on trial. However, Leeds will take him if the terms are right. Reid is buoyant after the success of Lamine Sakho and Zoumana Camara, whose cut-price arrivals have allowed him to let other players go.
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