Liverpool was my first choice, says former Celta Vigo forward Iago Aspas

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Iago Aspas has declared that he never had any doubts about moving to Liverpool as he waited for a paperwork wrangle to be sorted out.

The Spanish forward’s £7.7 million move from Celta Vigo was confirmed, subject to international clearance, on Sunday night – 12 days after he had a medical on Merseyside.

It is understood that the announcement of the deal was held up because of confusion as to who was licensed to represent the 25-year-old during the negotiations.

But Aspas, whose 12 goals helped Celta avoid relegation from Spain’s top flight on the final day of the season, was happy to wait to secure the move he wanted.

He told Liverpool’s website: “It wasn’t a tough decision at all. I’m really happy to have come to a big club like this one.

“Having weighed up all my options for this window, a massive club like Liverpool was always my first choice.”

Aspas is Liverpool’s third confirmed signing of the summer, following the captures of central defender Kolo Toure from Manchester City on a free transfer and forward Luis Alberto from Sevilla for around £6 million.

The 25-year-old, who can play as a main forward, a second striker or out wide, broke into Celta Vigo’s first team in 2008, having graduated from their youth set-up.

He added: “I am a quick and skilful player. Together we will achieve a lot of success.

“I’ve not had the chance to talk with the manager at any length just yet but I think that good players can slot into any role and not just one set position.”

Swansea City confirm no offers have been received from Arsenal for captain Ashley Williams

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Swansea City chairman Huw Jenkins has revealed that no offers have been received by the club for coveted captain Ashley Williams.

Williams has recently been linked with a move away from the Liberty Stadium, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton said to be looking at the central defender.

However, Jenkins insists that the Capital One Cup winners have yet to receive anything official for the 28-year-old Welshman, who signed a new three-year deal with the club in October 2012.

“While there seems to be constant speculation about Ashley Williams, I can honestly say that I have not had one call from anybody about him,” Jenkins told the South Wales Evening Post.

“There have been all sorts of stories in the press about what is happening with Ash but I have never heard anything from anyone.”

Williams joined the Swans from Stockport for £400,000 in May 2008, and has amassed over 200 league appearances for the club.

West Bromwich Albion’s Steve Clarke keen to lure former Wigan Athletic striker Franco Di Santo

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West Bromwich Albion head coach Steve Clarke hopes to find out in the next 48 hours whether he can persuade Franco Di Santo to move to The Hawthorns.

Albion have already held informal discussions with Argentina international Di Santo, 24, who is a free agent after his contract at Wigan expired.

It is believed the striker has several options, with his former Wigan manager Roberto Martinez reportedly interested in bringing him to Everton and a number of European clubs keen to sign him.

However, it is thought Di Santo is keen to remain in the Premier League – and Clarke hopes the fact he worked with the player during his time at Chelsea could give him an edge in the race for his signature.

Albion sporting and technical director Richard Garlick hopes to speak to Di Santo in the next couple of days.

Garlick said bringing new striking options to the club was a priority, telling the Birmingham Mail: “We need goals in the team and we need wide players. We know the type of strikers we want – it’s a case of getting out there and getting them through the door.

“There are plenty of strikers and wingers out there, but they might not fit the profile of what we want. People might think someone is a good player, but he might not fit our style of play.”

Albion also retain an interest in Arouna Kone, a former Wigan team-mate of Di Santo, who has a £6 million release clause in his contract and is also reported to be interesting Norwich City.

PSV Eindhoven’s Ola Toivonen is another possibility, while Albion have confirmed they are monitoring the situation of Belgium international winger Nacer Chadli, who currently plays for Dutch club FC Twente.

Albion want to bring in at least two strikers after informing Markus Rosenburg that he is free to leave after a disappointing first season in the Midlands.

Romelu Lukaku is returning to parent club Chelsea after a season-long loan, while Peter Odemwingie will be sold as soon as Albion find a club prepared to meet their £3 million valuation.

Joe Kinnear blasts former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer as ‘diabolical’ and ‘clueless’

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Newly appointed Newcastle United director of football Joe Kinnear has hit back at club legend Alan Shearer’s criticism of him, insisting that the former Toon striker has “not got a clue”.

The ex-England forward recently stated he was “sickened” by the appointment of Kinnear, a former manager of the Premier League club.

However, speaking in The Sunday Times, the former Wimbledon boss responded by dismissing Shearer’s thoughts and further stuck the boot in by suggesting the 42-year-old was “clueless” when it came to coaching.

“What Shearer says is diabolical,” Kinnear told The Sunday Times. “This is a guy who hasn’t got a clue about coaching. Good in five-a-sides, though, so they tell me.

“The last game of the season he came up with the master idea of playing Damien Duff at left-back. Damien is one of the best left-wingers in the business, but he can’t tackle. And we went down with an own goal from Damien. Shearer keeps slagging me off. He is being disrespectful to me. I am entitled to fight back.”

Kinnear suggested he had been set up in his interview with talkSPORT, where he infamously referred to Magpies star player Yohan Cabaye as ‘Yohan Kebab’ – which Shearer later described as a “PR disaster”.

The 66-year-old believes he had been misguided in the interview and thought he would be speaking to presenter Bobby Gould, who was Kinnear’s old manager at Wimbledon.

‘I did it [the interview] as a favour and I am so disappointed,” Kinnear added. “I was on air and he switched me to the other presenter. I thought I was going to speak to Bobby [Gould] about the old days.

“Yohan is a brilliant player and I didn’t pronounce his name right. But I didn’t say ‘Kebab’. I said ‘Keba’ and they put the ‘b’ onto it. They made a meal of it, no pun intended. Typical journalists, but it is my own fault and I regret what I said about the supporters.”

The day after Kinnear was appointed, United managing director Derek Llambias resigned from his position.

Paul Lambert steps up Aston Villa overhaul – Darren Bent, Shay Given and Alan Hutton set to leave

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Several more of Aston Villa’s fringe players could be on their way to new clubs as manager Paul Lambert continues to overhaul his squad.

Having given a free transfer to Australian Brett Holman and recruited extensively in the first half of the close season, Lambert’s overhaul is continuing apace.

Holman appears destined for the United Arab Emirates, with Dubai club Al Nasr interested.

The 29-year-old Australia international made 29 senior Villa appearances in 2012-13 despite an injury-hit second half of the season.

Midfielder Barry Bannan, who started for Scotland in their World Cup qualifying win in Croatia, is another who may now be surplus to requirements at Villa Park.

He fell out of favour in the final weeks of the season, not playing for the first team in either April or May.

Lambert also wants to offload full-back Alan Hutton, who has spent loan spells at Nottingham Forest and Real Mallorca in the last seven months.

The manager is on a mission to trim the wage bill, with the recent influx of new faces having increased that need, and is keen to move on big earners such as striker Darren Bent, Shay Given and Stephen Ireland.

Confederations Cup round-up: Spain and Uruguay both win

Uruguay gave minnows Tahiti one final Confederations Cup hammering as they booked their place in the semi-finals on Sunday, as Spain sent Nigeria packing from the competition with a similarly comfortable victory.

World Cup holders Spain defeated Nigeria 3-0 on Sunday thanks to two goals from Jordi Alba and another from Fernando Torres, setting up a semi-final showdown with Italy in the Confederations Cup.

Spain extended its unbeaten run to 25 matches, while Italy will be trying to avenge a humiliating 4-0 loss to Spain in last year’s European Championship final.

Alba scored in the third minute to set the wide-open tone for the match. The goal capped a series of one-touch passes — Pedro backheeled a ball to Andres Iniesta, who found Alba. His low shot beat goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama.

Torres scored with a header in the 62nd minute and Alba’s second goal came in the 88th.

Abel Hernandez scored four goals as Uruguay secured their place in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup with a thumping win over whipping boys Tahiti.

Hernandez completed his hat-trick before half-time before adding his fourth from the penalty spot on 66 minutes.

Luis Suarez also weighed in with a late double – which saw him past Diego Forlan as Uruguay’s all-time leading goalscorer – to go with strikes from Diego Perez and Nicolas Lodeiro as Tahiti bowed out of the tournament having conceded 23 times in their three group games.

Uruguay’s work was only soured by the 51st-minute dismissal of Andres Scotti who will now miss the last-four clash with hosts Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday.

Tahiti also finished the game with 10 men after Teheivarii Ludivion was shown a second yellow card on the hour.

Spain set new unbeaten record at Confederations Cup

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Spain set a new world record for the longest unbeaten run of competitive matches in international football with Sunday’s Confederations Cup win over Nigeria in Fortaleza.

The reigning World and European champions beat the Super Eagles 3-0 at the Estadio Castelao to confirm their place as Group B winners, but that victory also extended their streak without loss in competitions to 28 games.

That run of 24 wins and four draws, which stretches back to the 1-0 defeat to Switzerland in the opening fixture of their victorious 2010 World Cup campaign, surpasses the previous record set by France.

Les Bleus were also world champions when they set that record in 1999 – built up over a five-year period which did not include any qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup by virtue of them hosting the tournament – and they went on the add the European Championship title in 2000.

Spain’s win on Sunday was also the 15th consecutive game in which they have scored, having not drawn a blank since their goalless draw against Portugal in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 which they won on a penalty shootout.

The last defeat of any kind for La Furia Roja came in a friendly against England at Wembley in 2011, which they lost 1-0.

Their next chance to extend the record further comes on Thursday, when they face Italy in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup.