Toni to join Roma until end of season

Roma yesterday agreed to sign striker Luca Toni on a six-month loan deal from Bayern Munich. The Italian club said in a statement that Toni will join from tomorrow until June 30. The 32-year-old international forward had been out of favour with Bayern coach Louis van Gaal since the pair fell out earlier this season. "I am desperate for this. I want this situation to be resolved, and in the end this situation has to happen," said Toni, who joined Bayern in 2007.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may not buy a new forward despite being without Robin van Persie, Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott. "We have problems with our strikers. Everybody tells me to buy strikers, but when I look at the league nobody has scored more than us," said Wenger, whose team beat Portmouth 4-1 on Wednesday.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is delighted to have a solid centre-back pairing following weeks of putting out a makeshift back-four because of injuries. "The key to tonight was having the two centre-halves back," said Ferguson, after his team's 5-0 win over Wigan on Wednesday. "Wes Brown and Nemanja Vidic were magnificent, as they were at Hull."

The financial future of Portsmouth remains unclear despite the Fratton Park club denying they have been formally served with a winding-up petition. The Premier League club said they were surprised by the actions of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and claim they are disputing the amount of tax they owe and expect the HMRC to withdraw their demands. sports@thenational.ae