Xavier faces Everton exit

Portuguese international defender Abel Xavier is looking for a new club after Everton FC placed him on the transfer list following the breakdown of contract talks.

January deadline
Xavier could move before the 31 January deadline for registering players for European competition as Everton look to cash in on the 29-year-old, whose contract with the FA Premiership club expires in June.

'Available to move'
"The club and Abel have failed to reach agreement on a new contract - the club having offered a new three-year contract and Abel turning down the offer that was made," Everton manager Walter Smith told the club's official website on Wednesday. "That will mean he will be available to move at any time if a club comes in for him."

Interested clubs
Xavier, who arrived at Everton in a €2.4m deal from PSV Eindhoven in September 1999, said: "I have clubs interested in me and I am going to try and conclude [deals] with the clubs that are interested and to see what is the best for me."

An eye on Europe
The Mozambique-born player, a probable member of Portugal's 2002 FIFA World Cup finals squad, intimated he is looking for a club involved in European competition.  "There is a deadline for clubs playing in Europe and I am going to see now if I can find a club," he told Everton's website.