Man. City Eyes France’s Under-16 Team Captain: Soccer Roundup

The following is a roundup of soccer stories from U.K. newspapers, with clickable links to the Internet.

Next Desailly

Manchester City will try to beat competition from Arsenal, Inter Milan and Juventus to sign Le Havre midfielder Jules Ntcham, who has been billed as the most promising French youngster of his generation and likened to Marcel Desailly, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Ntcham, who captains France’s under-16 team, has resisted attempts by Le Havre to sign him to a professional contract since his 16th birthday in February and may be available for no more than a small compensation fee, the Telegraph added.

Beckham Makes Cut

Former England captain David Beckham survived a selection cut for Great Britain’s Olympic soccer squad, the Daily Mail reported.

The Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder and Wales duo Craig Bellamy and Gareth Bale were among the 80 names included as manager Stuart Pearce pared down his list of 191 players, the newspaper said. The final 18-man squad is expected to be named at the end of May, the Mail added.

Icelandic Interest

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is lining up a move for Icelandic midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who’s scored seven goals for Swansea since joining on loan from German club Hoffenheim in January, the Sun reported.

Pardew was impressed by Sigurdsson during Newcastle’s 2-0 win at Swansea on April 6, the newspaper added. Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers wants to sign the 22-year-old permanently, though Hoffenheim’s 8 million pound ($12.7 million) asking price is more than double the Welsh club’s record transfer fee, the Sun added.

Cover for Evra

Manchester United is considering a move for FC Copenhagen left-back Bryan Oviedo and sent scouts to watch the Costa Rica international last weekend, the Mail reported.

United wants a left-back to cover for Patrice Evra as Fabio da Silva is expected to be loaned to Portuguese club Benfica next season, the Mail said, adding that Oviedo is available for about 2 million pounds.

United manager Alex Ferguson would prefer to loan Fabio to a Premier League club so he can better monitor the Brazilian’s development, the Independent reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Baynes in Sydney at dbaynes@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Elser at celser@bloomberg.net