Man. United Bid $60 Million for Neymar on Deadline Day: Roundup

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

Neymar Bid

Manchester United made a club-record 38 million-pound ($60.2 million) offer for Brazil striker Neymar on the final day of the transfer window last week, the Sun reported.

The bid failed because the 20-year-old wanted to stay with Santos until after Brazil hosts the 2014 World Cup, the newspaper said.

Usain for United

Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt may appear for Manchester United in an exhibition match against Real Madrid next year, the same newspaper reported, citing United manager Alex Ferguson.

“It’s interesting he says he’d like to play in a charity game,” the Sun cited Ferguson as saying of Bolt, who is a United fan. “It could be brilliant, and next year when we play Real Madrid’s legends again, there could be opportunities to bring him up and see how he does.”

Free Transfer

Arsenal is said to have offered Andrei Arshavin, 31, a free transfer to help the former Russia captain find a new club before the Russian transfer window closes tomorrow, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Although Arsenal had hoped to get a fee of about 5 million pounds for Arshavin, the Gunners are now prepared to let him to leave for free given that he is entering the final year of his contract, the newspaper said. Dynamo Moscow has shown the strongest interest in signing him, the Telegraph added.

Dempsey Deal

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was prepared to exchange midfielder Jordan Henderson, winger Stewart Downing or left-back Jose Enrique to sign Fulham striker Clint Dempsey, the Daily Mail reported.

Rodgers had agreed a swap in principle with Fulham for Henderson, though also mentioned Downing and Enrique as possible departures, the Mail said. U.S. forward Dempsey joined Tottenham Hotspur before the Aug. 31 trade deadline.

Carroll Hamstrung

England striker Andy Carroll faces six weeks out after tearing his hamstring in his first game for West Ham after joining the club on loan from Liverpool, the Telegraph reported.

West Ham, which wants to sign Carroll in a permanent 17 million-pound deal once his loan expires at the end of the season, is waiting for his scans to be fully assessed, the newspaper said.

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