Mcinnes closes in on move for former Manchester City and Villa star Ireland
Former Manchester City and Aston Villa midfielder Stephen Ireland is close to becoming an Aberdeen player, according to reports.
The 32-year-old has been out of contract since leaving Stoke City during the closeseason and Pittodrie manager Derek Mcinnes believes the six-times capped Republic of Ireland international could add much-needed creativity to his side following the summer departures of Kenny Mclean and on-loan Ryan Christie.
Ireland has suffered from injuries and loss of form in recent years and is now looking for the chance to rebuild his career.
Having joined Manchester City from Cobh Ramblers as a youth in 2001, he made his senior debut as an 18-yearold, spent five years as a firstteam player and was voted their Player of the Year in season 2008-09.
In 2010 he moved to Aston Villa but spent much of his four-year spell with the Midlands club on loan to Newcastle United and Stoke City, joining the Potteries club permanently in 2014.
However, in four years at the Britannia Stadium, during which Ireland suffered a dou- ble leg break, he made only 46 league appearances.
Despite scoring four times in six outings for the Republic, his international careerhalted after he withdrew from their squad amid a bizarre series of excuses including false claims that his maternal, then paternal, grandmothers had died. He has since said that he no longer wishes to represent his country.
Ireland trained with Bolton Wanderers during the summer but failed to agree terms. He also received an offer to join Borussia Moenchengladbach but a move to Germany failed to materialise.
BY MATT SLATER
The Football Association’s board has unanimously backed the plan to sell Wembley Stadium to Fulham owner Shahid Khan, the national governing body has announced.
The proposed deal, which is worth £600 million in cash and £300m in future revenue from the stadium’s hospitality business, will now go to the FA Council for its blessing on 11 October.
In a statement, an FA spokesperson said: “The sale of Wembley Stadium, the negotiated protections and an outlined plan to invest £600m into football community facilities, were presented and discussed at the FA Board meeting today.
“Following on from this discussion, the FA Board has agreed to take the presentation to the FA Council to get its input now that the full facts are known.”
Khan, right, said in a statement: “The news from today’s FA board meeting is welcomed and encouraging. I understand the discussion was open and thorough.
“One cannot ask for more as we continue to work through the process with the FA Board, FA Council, Sport England, the Mayor of London’s office and DCMS toward reaching an agreement that will serve English football for generations to come. “Today’s development has no effect on my plans to renovate Craven Cottage (which will continue) to be the permanent home of Fulham Football Club.”
Khan wants to use Wembley as a base for his National Football League side the Jacksonville Jaguars, and it would still be used, on a rental basis, for most of England’s home matches, all of the current club finals and semi-finals it stages and rugby league’s Challenge Cup final.