Ivanschitz staying with Rapid

SK Rapid Wien have secured the services of Andreas Ivanschitz, one of Austrian football's brightest talents, until 2007.

Club content
The 19-year-old's previous contract was due to expire in 2005 and Rapid president Rudolf Edlinger was delighted Ivanschitz had agreed to a longer-term deal. Edlinger said: "It fits our club philosophy that we keep our key players here as long as possible and we are very happy that one of our young guard will stay with us."

First-team regular
Ivanschitz, who made his Bundesliga debut for Rapid at the age of 16, has so far made 80 top-flight appearances for the club and is now a first-team regular.

Ciantar switch
Meanwhile, Malta midfield player Adrian Ciantar has joined champions Birkirkara FC on a five-year contract. The 25-year-old has left Hibernians FC after a week of negotiations between the two clubs. Ciantar, capped five times by Malta, had been with Hibernians since 1997.

Going home
Another player on the move is Danish striker David Nielsen who has returned to his homeland to join Aalborg BK on a free transfer from English club Norwich City FC. Nielsen, who wanted to move back home for family reasons, has been released with a clause that will see Norwich receive a 25 per cent cut of any future transfer fee.