Hip injury threatened Fowler's career

The hip injury that forced the Leeds United and England striker Robbie Fowler to miss more than three months of the season could have ended his career, according to his club.

Fowler is now on the verge of a full return to first-team action, but according to the Leeds physiotherapist, Dave Hancock, his recovery from surgery was not a foregone conclusion. "Fowler had a serious injury to the extent that it could have finished him," he said yesterday. "A lot of people don't realise that some of these injuries like Robbie Fowler's have been serious injuries, not just your run-of-the-mill soft tissue injuries such as Freddie Ljungberg had at Arsenal."

Fowler, who was signed from Liverpool a year ago, underwent surgery to shave a piece of cartilage from his hip after club doctors identified the long-standing problem.

The Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier has insisted that the England striker Emile Heskey will not be leaving Anfield, despite reports of a £12m move to Tottenham. "This will not happen," Houllier said. "There is no chance of Emile being sold and there is no point in anyone asking. You can add more to that £12m figure and he will still not be leaving."

Sporting Lisbon claim they have reached an agreement with Manchester United on a proposed link-up deal that will involve the exchange of youth players and coaching ideas. United already have a similar deal with the Belgian club Antwerp and links with sides in Ireland, Norway and Australia.

Birmingham City have signed the Senegal full-back Ferdinand Coly from Lens on a six-month loan deal, beginning on 1 January, with the option to make the deal permanent. City are also close to signing on the Paris St-Germain defender Didier Domi.