Sporting briefs

Juan: Inter appear to have beaten rivals Milan for the signature of 20-year-old defender Juan from Internacional. According to the Brazilian media, Inter have won the race by securing a deal with the player and his agents. Talks are underway with Juan’s club and it’s believed they could prise the U-20 international away for €5m.

No panic: Mainz general manager Christian Heidel is refusing to panic after his side failed to win for the eighth game in a row at Hertha Berlin on Saturday. The 0-0 draw saw Mainz slip even closer to the drop zone, but Heidel says there are enough positive signs to remain optimistic. “The team has shown that it can play better than the league table suggests but unfortunately we just lacked a bit of luck,” he said.

Miller: Kenny Miller will need a hospital check-up to see whether or not he can play in tomorrow night’s Carling Cup fourth round clash with Burnley after clashing heads with team-mate Ben Turner in Cardiff’s 5-3 home win over Barnsley. The Scotland international was led off the field with blood gushing from a head wound after an incident which manager Malky Mackay described as a “comic cuts” moment.

Add ons: The Greek Super League announced that it will return to a 16-team championship with the addition of Doxa Drama and Levadiakos Livadia from the second division. The Super League had entered its seventh round last weekend with 14 teams after last month’s decision to demote Olympiakos Volos and Kavala for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal.

Unruly fans: Some 700 FC Basel fans who travelled to Zurich for an away game yesterday headed home before the match when they were told by police that they would have to stop setting off firecrackers while marching to the stadium. Police were implementing new security measures imposed after violence during a Zurich derby in October caused the game to be cancelled.

Ranieri: Inter coach Claudio Ranieri spoke of his delight after breaking his team’s home duck with a 1-0 success over Chievo at San San yesterday. Until Thiago Motta scored in the first half, not only had Inter not won at home all season, but they had not even scored. “It was important to unblock the hoodoo even though it seems strange to me to say that we had not won and not even scored here,” Ranieri said.