What the back pages of the papers say - July 16

Gareth Barry today faces a humiliating climbdown when he reports to Aston Villa for training.

Also: An Open Championship already missing world number one Tiger Woods suffered another scare yesterday when defending champion Padraig Harrington declared himself a major doubt for tomorrow's first round.

DAILY STAR

Open champ Padraig Harrington is facing a battle with injury to defend his crown.

Also: Gareth Barry has been ordered back to Aston Villa today.

I'm free: Robbie Keane is set to become a big-money Liverpool player

DAILY MIRROR

Frank Lampard was last night poised to ask Chelsea for a transfer to force through his move to Inter Milan.

Also: Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan is set to sign Argentine star Pablo Aimar in a sensational £7million deal - the biggest signing he has made since returning to St James' Park in January.

THE TIMES

Padraig Harrington is in a race against time to be fit to defend his Open Championship title after damaging a wrist in a training incident involving an impact bag.

Also: Luiz Felipe Scolari has challenged Chelsea's fringe players, such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, to prove that they are worth a place in the squad during their pre-season tour.

THE SUN

Liverpool are ready to make Robbie Keane one of the world's costliest players this week.

Also: Wayne Bridge has signed a whopping £16.6million deal with Chelsea - on Big Phil Scolari's orders.

THE INDEPENDENT

Already there are whispers in the dunes here of "the doomed Open".

Also: Arsenal expect to be in a position to make an offer for Gareth Barry this week when they finally close the deal to sell their former captain Gilberto Silva to Panathinaikos.

DAILY EXPRESS

Padraig Harrington dropped another bombshell on an Open Championship that seemed cursed last night when he revealed a sprained wrist could stop him from defending the Claret Jug he won at Carnoustie last year.

Also: Gareth Barry will come face to face with Martin O'Neill today for the first time since being banned from Aston Villa.

THE GUARDIAN

Losing the best golfer in the world was bad enough for the R&A but the organisers of the 2008 Open were last night facing the nightmare possibility of a tournament without a defending champion after Padraig Harrington declared himself a doubtful starter for tomorrow's first round at Royal Birkdale.

Also: Hayley Haining yesterday revealed that she is considering giving a miss to next month's Olympics in Beijing rather than going there to be told at the last minute that she will not be running.

DAILY TELEGRAPH

English cricket last night shied away from a proposed Twenty20 English Premier League comprising nine new city franchises.

Also: Sergio Garcia wants to play himself out of a situation in which he is quizzed non-stop about how he lost the Open.