David Beckham, on-loan LA Galaxy star might be staying at AC Milan on a timeshare agreement.

The future of the England international is reportedly close to being concluded, but AC Milan chief Adriani Galliani told the club’s official website: ”I have read that everything is resolved but that is not the case. The deal is not resolved.

”We are in fact working on the possibility that he remains on loan until June 30 but no agreement has been reached.”

On Monday, Galliani confirmed the club’s intention to sign Beckham, but revealed their idea was now to extend his loan until June – after which point he will return to LA Galaxy, and then in January he will join the club for free as he has a clause in his contract which allows him to leave the MLS in November.

“I hope I succeed in sorting it out that he stays until 30th June,” Galliani told the club’s television station. “After that he can go back to Los Angeles, before returning to us next January.

“That is what we are trying to do. It is complicated as we always knew it would be, but we are still trying.”

Galaxy have insisted that Beckham will return to the States on March 9, but the player has already publicly confirmed his desire to stay in Italy beyond his current loan agreement.

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The North vs South derby happens this weekend between the Stormers and the Bulls, the biggest rivals in South Africa, but Bulls fullback Zane Kirchner says they have “no special plans” for the Stormers when they arrive at Loftus Versfeld for their Super 14 Round Four showdown on Saturday.

The unbeaten Bulls are top of the standings – along with the Waratahs, but ahead on points difference – after brushing aside the challenges of the Reds, Blues and Lions in the first three weeks.

The Stormers – desperate after losing two of their first three home matches, against the Sharks and Blues – will pose an altogether different threat to the Bulls this week.

However, Kirchner feels the Bulls will be best served by treating this like any other “important” game and not turning it into a big derby affair.

“The guys are always up for a game like this,” adding that it could be a mistake to lose sight of the bigger picture – their goal of winning a second Super 14 title.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, it is such an important competition [the Super 14].

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Guus Hiddink says he would “love it” if Chelsea could prevent Manchester United from completing a clean sweep of all the trophies this season.

The Red Devils, with something short of a first-choice starting XI, beat Tottenham on penalties at Wembley on Sunday to lift the Carling Cup.

It was a second piece of silverware for the defending European and English champions, who also secured the FIFA Club World Cup title in Japan just before Christmas.

Chelsea moved back up into second place in the Premier League over the weekend but remain seven points adrift of Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, who have a game in hand heading into the midweek fixtures, when Hiddink takes his side to relegation battlers Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

“I hope that we can stop him. I would love to stop him on this aim,” said the Dutchman, in charge of Chelsea until the end of the season.

“I have not had that many experiences with him directly, direct confrontations, although I remember once it was my birthday when PSV [Eindhoven] were eliminated by Manchester United.

“I have met him sometimes when I have been to Manchester United, for a couple of pre-season tournaments.

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Springbok and Bulls winger Bryan Habana has fractured his hand over the weekend and will be spending the next four to six weeks on the sideline.

While the injury may take the shine off the Bulls’ unbeaten run in the Super 14 competition, following their third successive win at the weekend, the break could not have come at a more opportune time for one of the world’s best wings.

The Bulls are topping the standings after their 16-9 victory over the Lions in a soaking wet Johannesburg on Saturday.

The Bok and Bulls stalwart will undergo surgery on Monday and will miss at least four weeks, maybe even six.

This means he will miss the Bulls’ crucial home game derby against the Stormers in Pretoria this coming Saturday, as well as the early matches on their Australasian tor – which will see them tackle the Hurricanes, Highlanders and Crusaders on the New Zealand leg of their gruelling five-match trip.

There is a chance that he could be back in time to join the team for the Australian leg – when they face the Waratahs and Brumbies, but it is more likely that he will only start playing again when the Bulls return home – to start the final stretch against Chiefs on April 24.

Although his absence will no doubt leave a gaping hole in the Bulls’ attacking arsenal, the break may well be a timely rest period for the wing – who has struggled to regain his best form after nearly 18 months of non-stop rugby.

While Habana has regained some of his try-scoring form, his defensive lapses this season has showed that he is still not as sharp as the player who won the International Rugby Board and South African Player of the Year awards in 2007 – when he was also the top try scorer at the Word Cup in France.

It is likely that Springbok utility back Jaco Pretorius will wear the No.11 jersey in the nest few weeks – after he moved from centre to left wing, with JP Nel having come on in the midfield, when Habana was replaced in the Bulls 19-6 win over the Lions in a sopping wet Johannesburg at the weekend.

The other injury news from the Bulls camp is that flank Dewald Potgieter also injured his chest.

He is a doubtful starter for next Saturday’s encounter with the Stormers.

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The Shark‘s thwarting of the opposition’s close driving near the line and a better field kicking game were the factors that helped them to a nailbiting 22-15 win over the Chiefs in the first match of their Vodacom Super 14 tour on Saturday. Even for an ardent South African supporter it would have been hard not to feel sorry for the Chiefs. As the commentators said, it was incredibly bad luck they did not escape with at least a draw in a game where for much of it they were in the ascendancy everywhere but on the scoreboard.

Scorers:
Chiefs – Tries: Brendan Leonard, Aled De Malmanche. Conversion: Stephen Donald. Penalty Conversion: Stephen Donald.
Sharks – Tries: Francois Steyn, JP Pieterson (2). Conversion: Rory Kockott (2). Penalty Conversion: Rory Kockott.

Cameron Shepherd registered the season’s first hat-trick of tries to help the Force to a crucial 25-16 away victory over the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday. The big left-wing was on the end of three superb passing movements with No8 Richard Brown also going over to also give the Force the bonus point. The Brumbies had escaped with narrow victories in their first two games, including beating the Crusaders, but an uncharacteristic sluggishness crept into their game in this match and they were unable to take full advantage of their superiority in the set-pieces – especially at scrum time.

The Bulls clung to the top of the Vodacom Super 14 log with a hard-fought 16-9 win over a gritty Lions side at Coca-Cola Park on Saturday evening. Billed as the “Jukskei Derby” the players must have felt they were playing in the river after a cloudburst shortly before kick-off left the field soggy and cloying underfoot. The match kicked off in a steady shower and although the rain abated later on conditions were extremely difficult and it resulted in an error-ridden encounter that, pardon the obvious pun, the Bulls made heavy weather of winning.

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