St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes has returned to former club West Brom to sign striker Marcus Haber on a season-long loan.

The 21-year-old Canadian joined Albion from the Vancouver Whitecaps on an 18-month contract in January but he has not made a first-team appearance.

The 6ft 3in frontman has already had two loan spells, with Exeter and Vancouver, and he will see out his contract in the Scottish Premier League, although the Baggies have a one-year option on his deal.

Wigan winger Charles N’Zogbia has revealed that the club will not stand in his way if a bigger club wants to acquire his services.

N’Zogbia joined Wigan in January 1999, when he angered fans of Newcastle by voicing his desire to play at a higher level.

And the 24-year-old is keen to take another step upwards in his footballing career.

“When I came here, I was in a period where I wanted to relaunch myself,” N’Zogbia told L’Equipe. “Today I’m at Wigan but if tomorrow a good club with great aims contacts me, I am open.

“I have talked about it with my bosses. They won’t put a spoke in the wheel.”

Despite their apparent willingness to sell Wigan will still hope to have N’Zogbia available for their first game of the season at home to Blackpool on 14th August.

Full Time Result betting has Wigan at 1.80, while Blackpool can be backed at 4.33 and the draw is 3.25.

Following the entire France World Cup squad being suspended for their friendly against Norway next month, N’Zogbia has been selected by new coach Laurent Blanc for the match.

Should he win his first cap, it would put an end to talk of him playing for England.

He continued: “They talked about me (playing for England) but for me it’s just something in the press.

“Until the moment someone at the Federation comes and talks to me about it face to face, I haven’t even asked myself the question.

“In my head I’m French. There’s no reflection to make.”

Wigan are 3.25 to be relegated from the Barclays Premier League 2010/11.

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Andy Webster can see some light at the end of the tunnel in his Rangers career after taking a central role during the pre-season preparations.

The 28-year-old has only made one competitive appearance for Rangers since his arrival, initially on loan from Wigan, in January 2007.

Suffering a knee injury in his first training session set the tone for the following years, with the only bright spot a goalscoring debut against Gretna in September 2007.

A loan spell at Bristol City failed to kick-start his Ibrox career as he struggled to establish himself in Walter Smith’s plans after recovering from a string of injuries.

But his fortunes were rejuvenated in glorious fashion last season as a loan spell at Dundee United helped him return to the Scotland fold and win a Scottish Cup winner’s medal.

The former Hearts defender has started all three pre-season matches Rangers have played so far to give him encouragement that his Ibrox career is finally lifting off.

“Having done all of the hard work in pre-season, it has been nice to be involved when the games have come around,” Webster told www.rangersfc.co.uk.

“I hope this is me finally getting there now. Everything that has gone on before is in the past and I’m looking forwards and making sure I’m ready for the start of the campaign.

“At this stage, it’s all about getting a level of fitness and with the squad we’ve got, a lot of the boys have played in the majority of the games so far.

“The more you play and the more involved you become, the more comfortable you then get with your surroundings and I’m happy to be in the side at the moment.”

Webster has lined up alongside David Weir in central defence, with Madjid Bougherra moved out to right-back when Rangers beat Blackburn in their first Sydney Festival of Football game on Sunday.

The Algeria defender sat out Wednesday’s rain-lashed goalless draw against the hosts with a minor knock but he will return as Rangers face AEK Athens in their final game tomorrow.

Kenny Miller will also feature despite continuing to suffer pain from shin splints.

Smith said: “Madjid will be okay. He took a kick on the calf but he has recovered from that and he will play against AEK.

“Kenny has the shin splints issue which is painful but it will only become a worry to us if it becomes chronic, which will mean he will have to miss games.

“However, just now if he gets a couple of days’ rest in between matches then he is okay.

“It doesn’t seem to be painful when he is playing – it’s after the game that he feels it.

“We will give him a bit of a rest when we go home and that should clear things up.”

Former Wigan striker Marlon King is determined to rebuild his football career after serving a jail term and has vowed to stay out of trouble.

Last October, King was jailed for 18 months having been found guilty of sexual assault and actual bodily harm over an incident in a London nightclub, which occurred in December 2008 while he was on loan to Hull from Wigan.

King’s Wigan contract was terminated, however he believes he can have a future in the game and is hoping a club is willing to take him on.

He told Sky Sports News: “I haven’t even thought about what league. Because there’s no way I’m going to come out and think I’m going to walk into any team. I’ve got to earn my right. And given my opportunity I’ve got to take it.

“You need someone to give you that opportunity. I’d just like to say that given that opportunity I can at least do a job on the field and keep my nose clean off it.”

King insists a responsibility to his family will ensure he will avoid off-field problems.

“I don’t need to make the manager a promise because if I get in trouble then I let my family down, I let a lot of people down,” he said.

“I’ve been away from them for nine months and they didn’t deserve that. I owe it to them to do the right thing.

“I’ve discussed it with everybody and everybody’s got to look after their best interest. If the club want to put something in my contract to say if anything happens … that’s fine. Because they won’t find me in a situation like this or anything else again.”

France midfielder Alou Diarra has insisted he is committed to Bordeaux despite ongoing interest from French champions Marseille.

Diarra is with Bordeaux in Paris this weekend for a pre-season tournament, and said he was not interested in a move.

“I am happy to be in Bordeaux,” he said on lequipe.fr. “I’m happy to be with my team-mates and I will defend my colours. There’s nothing to be unsettled by.”

Diarra was a member of the France team that failed so spectacularly and controversially at the World Cup in South Africa, to the point that the entire squad has been dropped by new France coach Laurent Blanc.

However, Diarra is confident he will be considered again for the national team.

“I’ve not talked to (the other France players) since our return,” he said. “Sportingly it was a bad experience, but we move on.

“The coach knows me, he knows the man, I accepted being dropped. It is normal. It also suits me because I’m not 100 per cent.

“Everything depends on what the new coach wants but to forgo the 23 for the long term could be a bad thing for France.

“Honestly, we want to move on and I am looking to September and the next selections for the France squad.”

Manchester City are to hold further talks with Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti on Monday in a bid to conclude a deal for Mario Balotelli.

City are trying to add the teenage striker to their squad, but have yet to come to an agreement with both Inter and the player.

According to reports in Italy, City have lowered their offer for Balotelli from an initial €30million (£25m) to €27m (£22.5m) and they are also yet to meet the 19-year-old’s personal demands.

Balotelli’s agent has revealed that the player is becoming “anxious” regarding the failure to finalise a move and discussions now appear to be on hold until after the weekend.

Moratti confirmed that no agreement is yet in place, but he remains prepared to let Balotelli leave Inter for the right price.

“For Balotelli to go to Man City, we are still missing an agreement with the club,” Moratti told Sky Italia.

“We will probably talk about this on Monday to try and find a definite agreement with the English side.”

Real Madrid have confirmed that Germany midfielder Sami Khedira has accepted a five-year contract to join the club from Stuttgart.

German outfit Stuttgart announced earlier on Friday that an undisclosed fee – believed to be £8million – had been agreed with Real for the sale of Khedira.

The Spanish giants have now followed up that news by revealing the midfielder had agreed a move to the Santiago Bernabeu on a contract through to 2015.

Khedira had impressed for Germany during the World Cup finals and he scored the winning goal in the third-place play-off against Uruguay.

He had been part of the Stuttgart first-team fold since 2006, but only had 12 months remaining on his contract.

Real coach Jose Mourinho had been keen to increase his midfield options since taking charge in Madrid and will now have Khedira to call on during the coming season.

Hartlepool have completed the signing of former Carlisle defender Evan Horwood following a successful trial spell at Victoria Park.

The 24-year-old left-back, who was born in Hartlepool, has been on trial at Victoria Park following his release from the Cumbrians at the end of last season.

He has taken a full part in Pools’ pre-season campaign and has impressed boss Chris Turner enough to earn a full-time deal.

Charlton have signed Oldham striker Pawel Abbott for a nominal fee, with the former Poland Under-21 star signing a two-year deal at The Valley.

The 28-year-old, who was Oldham’s top scorer last season with 13 goals, has signed contract to keep him at The Valley until 2012 and becomes their second capture of the day after the arrival of Simon Francis from Southend.

Boss Paul Dickov told the club’s official website: “Charlton came in for Pawel and as I cannot guarantee anybody first-team football I allowed him to speak to them.

“We are well blessed for strikers and next week I hope to bring in another striker on loan from a Premier League club.

“On behalf of everyone at the club, I would like to wish Pawel all the best for the future.”

Cardiff City manager Dave Jones has confirmed full-back Kevin McNaughton has agreed to sign a new contract to keep him with the Bluebirds.

Jones is keen to resolve the long-term futures of some of his key players and is happy McNaughton will be staying at the club.

“We are looking at some of the players who are set to be out of contract next year, and once we can clear some of the hurdles we face and get some new bodies in, we can then continue to speak with our players,” Jones told the club’s official website.

“Already Kevin McNaughton has agreed to sign a new deal, which is positive news.”

Meanwhile, Jones has confirmed that midfielder Stephen McPhail will miss the start of the new season through injury.

Jones added: “Unfortunately for us we have some injury news in the form of Stephen McPhail missing out after a knock at Notts County.

“He’s had some cartilage shaved and will be out for two to three weeks, which is a shame so close to the new season.”