Football Club

Blackpool have bolstered their squad with four signings ahead of their first Premier League game on Saturday.

Manchester United’s Northern Ireland Under-21 defender Craig Cathcart, 21, has joined for an undisclosed fee.

The Seasiders have also acquired French trio Ludovic Sylvestre, 26, Elliot Grandin, 22, and Malaury Martin, 21.

Ex-Barcelona trainee Sylvestre joins from Czech side Mlada Boleslav, former Marseille player Grandin from CSKA Sofia and Martin was last with Monaco.

Cathcart never played for United’s first team but spent time on loan at Royal Antwerp, Watford and Plymouth.

Midfielder Sylvestre has also played for Sparta Prague and has signed a two-year deal at Bloomfield Road with an option for a third year, as has winger Grandin.

Fellow midfielder Martin is a former French youth international and has signed a one-year deal after impressing on trial following his release by Monaco.

Blackpool’s Premier League opener is at Wigan.

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has been linked with the Fulham job, has “unfinished business” in the Premier League, says his agent.

The Swede is the front runner to replace Roy Hodgson after Fulham’s attempt to lure Martin Jol from Ajax ended in failure.

“It’s a very attractive club, not just for Sven [but there has been] no contact whatsoever,” said Athole Still.

“We’ve know for some weeks Sven’s one of the managers under consideration.”

Eriksson is unattached after taking charge of Ivory Coast at the World Cup, and is thought to be keen to return to England, where he was previously involved with Notts County and Manchester City.

He was sacked as City boss in 2008 by then-owner Thaksin Shinawatra when the team were ninth in the Premier League, a decision Still claims had little to do with the team’s performance on the pitch.

“He was in my view outrageously sacked from his position,” he said.

“He did a first-class job with Manchester City – it was a personal non-compatibility with Dr Shinawatra which caused him to be sacked. He should still be there.”

Former Rangers midfielder Kevin Thomson has said the lure of playing in the Premier League was key to his move to Championship club Middlesbrough.

The 25-year-old signed a four-year deal with Boro on Thursday after Rangers accepted a £2m bid for the player.

And, despite swapping the Champions League for the English second tier, Thomson is ready for a fresh challenge.

“My ambition is to play in the Premier League and I think I can do that with Middlesbrough,” he said.

“It’s a new challenge and a fresh start for me.

“The Rangers fans were great to me and I’ll never forget my three-and-a-half years there.

“I won back-to-back titles, we reached the Uefa Cup final and we picked up a couple of cups along the way too, so it was a successful time.

“Now I’m ready to take a new step in my career.”

Thomson joins a sizeable Scottish contingent on Teesside and added that having so many compatriots at the club was another factor in his signing.

“When you move you have to look at the whole package because you’re moving to a new club and you’re moving your family too,” he told Boro’s official website.

“But there are six or seven Scots down here already and there are so many of them who I know, while the manager knows pretty much what I’m all about.

“All that, together with the challenge of helping the club win promotion, meant the whole package felt right.”

The twice-capped Scot is joining up with manager Gordon Strachan for a second time, having worked briefly under the former Celtic boss as a teenager at Coventry City.

And the former Hibernian skipper revealed that he could have moved to Celtic, then under Strachan, rather than Rangers.

“I had an opportunity to go to Celtic before I went to Rangers, but it never happened,” he said.

“I obviously played against Gordon’s sides on numerous occasions and he was hugely competitive in a situation where second best is not good enough.

“I know how he likes the game to be played, he likes his teams to pass the ball and I’m sure he’ll certainly bring the best out of me.”