Long saga yet to be resolved

After the owner of Hull City had said earlier in the day that a deal had been agreed with West Brom for the sale of striker Shane Long, there was still no confirmation last night that the protracted saga had reached a conclusion.

And while the Tigers remain favourites to bag the Baggies man, the rumour mill was also ablaze with speculation that Stoke City — where Mark Hughes is an admirer of Long — would make a late bid for the Irish striker.

Earlier, Allam had indicated Hull were close to a deal with the Republic of Ireland international.

“I think we agreed terms,” he said. “It’s a matter of talking, getting the club to release and the player to agree.”

Long has been a target of manager Steve Bruce for some time, a previous projected move to Humberside only falling through at the 11th hour on transfer deadline day last September.

For his part, the 26-year-old has indicated he would be happy to stay at West Brom — as has his wife Kayleah who is expecting their second child — but the striker also accepts that if the club want to move him on there’s not much he can do about it.

Also last night, Long’s former Reading and Cork City team-mate Kevin Doyle was being linked with a loan move from Wolves to Middlesbrough which, if it goes through, could see the Wexford man take a significant pay cut since Wolves have made a point of not contributing to higher-ranked clubs who take their players on loan.

Some estimates suggest that Doyle would see his wage packet drop from £40,000 to around £15,000 if he moves to Teeside.

Meanwhile, former Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni could yet be on his way to the World Cup in Brazil — as manager of Algeria.

France Football magazine yesterday quoted the Italian as saying he had received an informal third part approach about taking over the north African team.

“It is not an official thing,” said Trapattoni. “I cannot say yes or no. It is a project as other projects. At the moment, it is just a rumour.”

“There is a person who is interested — I think it is an intermediary — like other people have contacted me, Chinese among them.

“It was to see if there is availability on my part. He called me like the others. I am grateful and honoured by anyone who offers me the job.”

Algeria will face Belgium, Russia and South Korra in Group H in Brazil.