The Screamer... it's the talk of football

Sheffield Wednesday have made an audacious bid to sign Holland striker Patrick Kluivert.

Having struggled to establish himself at PSV Eindhoven, Kluivert is eager to return to England at 31 despite an inauspicious stay with Newcastle. Premier League clubs Bolton and Wigan have been contacted about his availability but have so far failed to take up an offer to look at him.

Brian Laws, manager of Championship side Wednesday, said: "I have a strong contact in Holland who is Kluivert's agent. We've invited the boy down and I want to run the rule over him. It is just a possibility and is nothing concrete at the moment but we've made an enquiry."

Kluivert started only 14 Premiership games for Newcastle, scoring six times. After being released he joined Valencia in 2005.

Glenn Roeder

On January 18, 2007, we accused former Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder of hypocrisy for claiming the club's midfielder Emre was innocent of alleged racial abuse during a game with Everton when he knew or suspected his player was guilty and had apologised for the abuse.

Mr Roeder has informed us he apologised for a confrontation on the pitch and not for any alleged racist abuse and that his statements regarding Emre, who was cleared of the allegation in March, reflected what he believed to be true.

We are happy to accept Mr Roeder's explanation that he was not guilty of covering up racist abuse.

Thaksin completes City takeover

Thaksin Shinawatra has finally gained total control over Manchester City and will de-list the company from the Stock Exchange.

Thaksin, ousted as Thailand PM in a coup last September, made a successful £81.6million bid for a majority stake last month and since then has been acquiring additional shares.

Middlesbrough completed the £2.5million signing of England defender Luke Young after a medical, but he is unlikely to play tonight at Darlington.

Portuguese midfielder Fabio Rochemback will miss Boro's first three games after losing an appeal over his red card against Hertha Berlin.

Bitter pill for Barton

Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton says he is 'devastated' following surgery on his broken metatarsal yesterday which rules him out for at least six weeks.

The £5.8million signing from Manchester City, hurt in Saturday's draw at Carlisle, said: "I am absolutely gutted and devastated and it is all extremely frustrating, but unfortunately it's part and parcel of modern day football. I want to get back as quickly as possible and, when I do, make sure I'm 100 per cent fit."

West Ham lead the £5m chase for Kieron Dyer, although there is interest from Manchester City and Tottenham.

Kaboul back on track

Younes Kaboul has made a swift recovery from the kick in the teeth that left him needing emergency dental treatment on Tottenham's tour of South Africa.

The £8.5million signing was kicked by Shaun Bartlett early in the 2-1 win over Kaizer Chiefs but is fit to face Orlando Pirates tonight.

Manager Martin Jol said: "Younes is OK but maybe not as handsome as he was before."