Queens Park Rangers midfielder Joey Barton said via Twitter that he hoped a mooted loan move to French Ligue 1 club Marseille will go through this week. In a series of tweets, Barton said: "Marseille won again as well. Allez les Marseillais. Maybe I'll see you all this week? I am hopefully (sic) that things will be sorted out soon. He added: "Other clubs are in but I only want to play in Marseille. This is the place for me … Hopefully, QPR and Marseille can finalise the deal in the next few days. My heart is already in the Velodrome", the French club's home stadium. AFP
Andre-Pierre Gignac's late goal sent Marseille to the top of Ligue 1 following a 1-0 win at defending champions Montpellier, who are suffering their worst start to a season in 15 years. Big-spending Paris Saint-Germain, who spent millions to bring in European greats including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were held to a goalless home draw by Bordeaux. Marseille, who were disappointed with their 10th-place finish last season, are on nine points, while Montpellier lie 18th with one point after three games for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Bordeaux are fourth on seven points, tied with second-placed Olympique Lyon. PSG are 11th on three points. In Montpellier, in-form Gignac netted from the left on 77 minutes thanks to a blunder from goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren, after Morgan Amalfitano took advantage of a Daniel Congre mistake to steal the ball just outside the box. "At the moment, we do not make the good choices, we make mistakes when we cannot afford to," Montpellier's coach Rene Girard said. "We cannot say we are serene, but we will not panic. Now we will see how strong we are. Everybody needs to give a bit more." Reuters
AC Milan are trying to persuade Real Madrid to give them Kaka back on loan before the transfer window closes on Friday, but the Spanish club are holding out for a sale, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani said. "The situation is clear: Real want to sell Kaka while we want him on loan," Galliani said. "If Real change their stance, I'll rush over there, but if on the other hand they insist on a loan, there's nothing more to be done." Real may be reluctant to loan the 30-year-old back to Milan given that they paid the Serie A side around €65 million (HK$631 million) for him. Reuters