Villa move clean, says Balaban's agent

Bosko Balaban's agent has denied that there was any wrongdoing during the Croatian international's transfer to Aston Villa.

Balaban's £6m move to the Premiership club from Dinamo Zagreb in August 2001 is one of three during the reigh of John Gregory as Aston Villa's manager that are currently being investigated by the Football Association.

Gregory has himself refuted any suggestions of financial irregularities and Nikki Vuksan, the man who negotiated Balaban's move, also insists his client's transfer was above board.

Vuksan told BBC Radio 5 Live he was shocked by the FA's investigation. He said: "I think it is rather difficult to say why this thing is happening now," and explained that the transfer had passed the strict regulations laid down by the game's ruling bodies at both the world and European level, Fifa and Uefa, as well as the English FA's regulations.

Paul Stretford, the agent, has begun legal action over allegations in Private Eye. Stretford, the head of ProActive Sports Management, denies the report in the magazine that he conducted 36 out of 39 deals during John Gregory's time at Aston Villa, maintaining that ProActive handled four signings into the club and two out in that time.

He brought in Steve Watson, Steve Stone, Alan Thompson and Peter Schmeichel. Watson moved on to Everton, Stone was capped by England and is still at the club although on loan to Portsmouth, Thompson was sold to Celtic and Schmeichel joined Manchester City at the end of his contract.

Celtic are to appeal against Uefa's decision to ban their manager Martin O'Neill from the touchline for two matches. European football's governing body imposed the ban after he was sent to the stand by the French referee, Claude Colombo, during the match against Celta Vigo last week.

Celtic's chief executive, Ian McLeod, said: "We believe that the punishment does not fit the supposed crime and that the decision of Uefa's disciplinary committee against Martin O'Neill is both draconian and unreasonable. We will definitely be appealing."

O'Neill's dismissal means he will be absent from the dug-out for the second leg in Spain on Thursday. O'Neill was banned from the touchline for a Champions' League match against Porto at Celtic Park last season after he left his technical area to dispute a penalty decision during a 3-2 defeat at Juventus.

The Everton manager, David Moyes, has won the Barclaycard Premiership Manager of the Month Award for November thanks to victories at Leeds and Blackburn Rovers, either side of wins at Goodison Park against Charlton and West Bromwich – all by the same 1-0 scoreline. Despite losing to Newcastle on Sunday, Everton are fifth in the Premiership.

Valencia have dismissed claims from Pablo Aimar's agent that an unnamed English club is interested in the Argentinian international midfielder. The Spanish champions insist Aimar is not for sale. Aimar's agent, Gustavo Mascardi, said earlier this week that he was aware of an offer for the player worth €24m (£15.3m) from an English club, but he declined to name which club.