THE Emerson saga took other twist with the revelation that his manager-agent in Portugal, Da Silva Vega, has no plans to visit England.

That will undoubtedly fuel speculation that he could be trying to set up a deal that would take the unsettled Middlesbrough mid-fielder to a Serie A club.

A spokesperson for Vega said: "He has a number of meetings scheduled for next week across Europe but none in England."

Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson said: "Emerson will not be leaving the club. In fact no one is leaving unless I decide it is in our best interests. I have the full backing of the chairman over this."

The career of Tomas Brolin hung in the balance yesterday after Sampdoria ditched plans to buy him because doctors' tests revealed a serious ankle injury.

Ioan Inga, the Romanian referee at the centre of allegations of match fixing, yesterday denied any involvement in the affair. Fernando Barata, a former coach, admitted he acted as go-between in a bribery attempt before the European Cup winners' Cup semi-final between Porto and Aberdeen 12 years ago.

But Igna said: "I could not possibly have known this Barata. The irony of the whole affair is that after the match FC Porto accused me of deliberately denying them a blatant penalty."