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Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard is set to miss four matches, including the first two World Cup qualifiers, because he needs a groin operation.

Gerrard played through the pain barrier on Wednesday to help Liverpool into the Champions League group stage.

England travel to Barcelona to play Andorra on Saturday 6 September and face Croatia away four days later. in the Premier League he is set to miss the matches involving Aston Villa on Sunday and Manchester United on 13 September.

James Milner's representatives have hit back at Newcastle after they revealed he has handed in a transfer request.

The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with Aston Villa and informed Newcastle of his desire to leave last Wednesday.

"The club is very disappointed that James sees his footballing future as being away from St James' Park. He is a valued member of the squad and it is only a year ago that he signed an improved long-term contract here."

Newspaper reports claimed on Wednesday that Villa boss Martin O'Neill was preparing a £9m offer for Milner, who joined the Magpies from Leeds in 2004.

Although the transfer request was handed in seven days ago James has been professional in keeping the matter private whilst giving strong performances for Newcastle United.

Manchester City have completed the signing of their former winger Shaun Wright-Phillips from Chelsea.

England's Wright-Phillips, 26, has signed a four-year contract at the City of Manchester Stadium having rejoined for an undisclosed fee.

He told the club's website: "Obviously I'm delighted to come back to City and I can't wait to get started again."

Wright-Phillips left City to join Chelsea for £21m in July 2005, but struggled to hold down a regular place in his three years in London.

He made only 43 Premier League starts, scoring four times, as he fell out of England reckoning too.

Champions League holders Manchester United were drawn with Scottish champions Celtic in the group stages of this year's competition.

The British pair will also face Spaniards Villarreal and Danish side Aalborg in Group E.

Chelsea were drawn with Roma, Bordeaux and Romanian minnows CFR Cluj, while Liverpool will meet PSV, Marseille and Atletico Madrid in a tough group.

Arsenal will play Porto, Fenerbahce and Dynamo Kiev in Group G.

The four English sides were guaranteed to be kept apart after being made top seeds, but Celtic could have faced any one of them after being drawn in the third pot of clubs.

They will get their chance to test themselves against the English champions in two mouth-watering clashes.

Dimitar Berbatov's hopes of a move to Manchester United look to be fading after Sir Alex Ferguson said he was "less optimistic" about new signings.

The United boss, who had a £20.5m bid for the striker rejected, was uncertain whether he would boost his squad before the transfer window shuts on Monday.

"I'm less optimistic so we'll carry on," Ferguson said.

"I've no idea what's going on. It's very hard to get communication with some people in life."

Berbatov has made no secret of his desire to leave White Hart Lane but Tottenham are determined that their £30m price-tag will be met.

United are unlikely to be pushed into paying over the odds and Ferguson may be prepared to miss out on Berbatov.

Berbatov's Dimitar Berbatov's agent Emil Danchev is believed to be in London to hold crisis talks with Tottenham.

It is understood that Danchev hopes to meet boss Juande Ramos and chairman Daniel Levy in a bid to thrash out the striker's future.


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