2 Premiership teams raided

London: Police searched three professional football clubs — Premier League sides Newcastle and Portsmouth and Scottish club Rangers — along with the homes of two people Monday as part of an investigation into corruption.

All three clubs confirmed they had been visited by City of London Police in the raid. Police did not name the individuals, however, and did not say what they were searching for. Newcastle said “the club itself is not the subject of the investigation.” However, the Magpies said it would take action if it had been the victim of any criminal activity.

Scottish Premier League club Rangers was also raided, but did not disclose any details. “Rangers football club was asked to co-operate with a City of London police investigation and have done so, extending every co-operation to police,” a Rangers statement said.

Portsmouth spokesman Gary Double said the club “co-operated fully” with the police but did not comment further.

Tevez’s medical this week

Tokyo: Manchester United chief executive David Gill has said that Carlos Tevez will have his medical at Old Trafford this week. Gill, who said that completing the signing of the Argentina striker is proving ‘over-complicated’, expects to have wrapped up a deal “in the next week or so”. Tevez finished on the losing side in the Copa America final as Brazil beat Argentina 3-0 on Sunday, but will now fly to Manchester for a medical which would normally mark the move from West Ham. However, with the Premier League insisting that any deal must be done directly between United and West Ham rather than Kia Joorabchian, who owns Tevez’s economic rights, the move is far from complete. United’s legal expert Maurice Watkins is in England to help resolve the dispute while the rest of the United party have landed in Tokyo for the start of the club’s four-match tour to the Far East.

Capello ponders move to US

Milan: Fabio Capello is mulling over a job offer in the United States following his sacking by Real Madrid last month. Capello won the Spanish title in his first season but complaints about his team’s style of play and failure in the Champions League led to him being replaced by Bernd Schuster. “They have contacted me from the United States, however I must think about it,” Capello told an Italian newspaper without naming the US team. “It would be a new experience that would intrigue me not for the money but to see if anyone could make American soccer take off.”

Kuyt calls for fast start

London: Dirk Kuyt insists that he is relishing the increased competition for places at Liverpool but fears that this summer’s eye-catching Anfield recruitment drive will go to waste if Rafael BenÍtez’s team fail to start the new season strongly. “You can’t win the title in the first few weeks of the season, but you can certainly lose it,” Kuyt said after Liverpool continued their preparations for the campaign with a 3-0 win over Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road. “We had a slow start last season, but this time it’s important that we show we can do it from the start.”

Richardson joins Sunderland

Sunderland: Kieran Richardson signed a four-year deal with Sunderland on Monday, where he will work with former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane. Richardson joins the Black Cats after five years at United, where he played alongside Keane, who is now manager of Sunderland. Financial terms were not disclosed. “Having worked with him in the past I’m well aware of what a good player and a good lad he is,” Keane said. “He’s ready for a fresh challenge and hopefully Sunderland will provide that for him.”

Richardson has played eight times for England and was part of the squad that played in the under-21 European Championship that ended June 23. He played 81 games for Manchester United after joining the club as a trainee.

Everton polls

Liverpool: Everton are polling their fans to gauge support for a move from their 115-year-old Goodison Park Stadium. Toffees chief executive Keith Wyness said the club was looking at relocating from the suburb of Everton to nearby Kirkby. The ballot, run by the Electoral Reform Society, will open early next month, involve more than 33,000 of the club’s ticket holders, with the results known by the end of August.