BUENOS AIRES, Jan 10 — Diego Maradona said yesterday he will fly to London next month to study an offer from an English Premier League club, Argentine media reported.

Argentina's two big dailies La Nacion and Clarin quoted Maradona as saying: "In February I'm going to England to listen to a firm offer.

"If they convince me, I may take it up," said the former Argentina coach during a visit to the Atlantic resort of Punta del Este in neighbouring Uruguay.

Maradona, 50, gave no indication of which club it might be. Clarin said sources close to Maradona were saying it was Fulham.

"I'm not desperate (but) I know that some day I'll be the coach again of some team," Maradona told a hastily convened news conference.

Maradona has been out of work since his controversial exit as Argentina coach following his World Cup team's 4-0 rout by Germany in July in the quarter-finals of the South Africa tournament.

Media have speculated since then on the 1986 World Cup-winning captain's future in coaching, with unconfirmed reports of offers including one from Aston Villa. — Reuters

 

Jan 10 — English FA Cup third round results yesterday. (Premier League unless stated, numeral denotes division, ML = minor league).

 Leicester City (II)          2 Manchester City           2

 Chelsea                      7 Ipswich Town (II)         0

 Manchester United            1 Liverpool                 0

 Tottenham Hotspur            3 Charlton Athletic (III)   0

 Played on Saturday

 Second round replay

 Lincoln City (IV)            3 Hereford United (IV)      4

 Third round

 Stevenage Football Club (IV) 3 Newcastle United          1

 Blackburn Rovers             1 Queens Park Rangers (II)  0

 Bolton Wanderers             2 York City (V)             0

 Brighton & Hove Albion (III) 3 Portsmouth (II)           1

 Bristol City (II)            0 Sheffield Wednesday (III) 3

 Burnley (II)                 4 Port Vale (IV)            2

 Burton Albion (IV)           2 Middlesbrough (II)        1

 Coventry City (II)           2 Crystal Palace (II)       1

 Doncaster Rovers (II)        2 Wolverhampton Wanderers   2

 Fulham                       6 Peterborough United (III) 2

 Huddersfield Town (III)      2 Dover (ML)                0

 Hull City (II)               2 Wigan Athletic            3

 Norwich City (II)            0 Leyton Orient (III)       1

 Preston North End (II)       1 Nottingham Forest (II)    2

 Reading (II)                 1 West Bromwich Albion      0

 Scunthorpe United (II)       1 Everton                   5

 Sheffield United (II)        1 Aston Villa               3

 Southampton (III)            2 Blackpool                 0

 Stoke City                   1 Cardiff City (II)         1

 Sunderland                   1 Notts County (III)        2

 Swansea City (II)            4 Colchester United (III)   0

 Torquay United (IV)          1 Carlisle United (III)     0

 Watford (II)                 4 Hartlepool United (III)   1

 West Ham United              2 Barnsley (II)             0

 Millwall (II)                1 Birmingham City           4

 Arsenal                      1 Leeds United (II)         1

 Playing today (GMT)

 Crawley Town (V)             v Derby County (II)       (2000) — Reuters