McClaren aims to sign United Under-21 pair

Steve McClaren could be heading for a transfer battle with his old club Manchester United over Jonathan Greening and Mark Wilson.

The Middlesbrough manager wants to take the England Under-21 pair with him to the Riverside after his departure from Old Trafford. However, United want £4.5m for the pair, while McClaren was hoping to buy them for around £2.75m.

Greening, who can play in attack or midfield, wants to move for regular first-team football and is valued at £3m by United. Wilson, a midfielder who captains the reserves, is also keen to improve his prospects elsewhere and is valued at £1.5m.

McClaren is also hoping to sign the Aston Villa and England defender Gareth Southgate for around £6.5m and the Bordeaux right-back François Grenet for around £2m.

Scott Sellars, who rejected a move to Northampton Town, is ready to sign a one-year contract with the Danish side Aarhus after a successful trial with the club.

Tranmere Rovers are keen to buy the Carlisle United midfielder Steve Soley. He is currently in dispute with his club, who are trying to pay him off along with three team-mates in order to cut costs.

The Austrian goalkeeper Günther Kreissl, who is at the end of his contract with Austria Vienna, will be given a trial by Bolton Wanderers.

Aston Villa fans anticipating a trip to Corsica had a surprise when the French club Bastia lost to Slaven Belupo of Croatia in the second round of the Intertoto Cup on Saturday. Villa must now make the trek to the northern Croatian town of Koprivnica, near the Hungarian border, to tackle Slaven Belupo in the first leg of the third round next weekend. At the same stage of the tournament Newcastle United will be away to the Belgian side Lokeren next weekend.

The Bolton-based referee Neil Midgley, who was in charge of the 1987 FA Cup final, has died after a short illness. Since his retirement, Midgley had been a Premier League and Uefa referees' assessor.