It was learned yesterday that Valletta and Sliema are presently locked in a battle for the services of the Birkirkara and Malta defender/midfielder Roderick Briffa.

It is reliably understood that the player has already been approached by representatives of the two clubs, but it appears that no official request for his services has been made to his club Birkirkara.

Briffa, who is presently with the national team for the matches in Norway, today, and Bosnia Herzegovina on Wednesday, is thought to have been offered lucrative deals by both clubs and sources close to the player told The Malta Independent, he still has to make a decision. He may possibly decide to stay on at Birkirkara if offered more or less the same terms.

It is a well known fact that both Valletta and Sliema are intent on strengthening their squads for next season. On the other hand, Birkirkara have put some of their players out of their plans for the coming season, but Roderick Briffa is not on that list, meaning that he could still be in coach John Buttigieg's plans.

Birkirkara to release goalie Bledzewski

Birkirkara yesterday announced that they have released Polish goalkeeper Andrzej Bledzewski. He is the third foreigner, after Nigerian defender Precious Monye and Argentine striker Dario Larrosa did not have their contracts renewed.

It is not yet known with whom the Stripes will be replacing Bledzewski, but it is a well known fact that Buttigieg wants to build a young squad with most of the players on loan with other clubs the past season featuring in his plans. An inclusion could be Msida goalie Omar Borg, who has been a target for the Stripes for a long time.

A club spokesman said yesterday that they will be making use of their own players, excluding those not in John Buttigieg’s plans, for the Intertoto Cup matches against Maribor of Slovenia. “We feel we do not stand a chance of making progress against such a strong team and we intend giving our youngsters a chance to gain much needed experience,” he said.