Italy roundup-Milan give City final Tevez deadline

Brief news on Friday ahead of this weekend's Serie A soccer matches (times GMT):

* AC Milan's managing director Adriano Galliani has given Manchester City an 1800 GMT deadline on Friday to accept the club's bid for striker Carlos Tevez, with Catania's Maxi Lopez waiting in the wings.

"We will have someone by 1900 (local time) on Friday," Galliani told Milan Channel. "I can tell you he will be Argentine with a surname ending in 'z'."

Second-placed Milan hope to have goalkeeper Christian Abbiati back from injury for Sunday's visit of Cagliari (1945) but are likely to be without German midfielder Alexander Merkel who suffered a knee injury on Thursday when the Rossoneri set up an Italian Cup semi-final with Juventus by defeating Lazio 3-1.

Milan scooped the top prizes at Italy's players' awards for 2011 on Monday with Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic winning best player in Serie A, Thiago Silva voted best defender and Stephan El Shaarawy best player in Serie B.

* Leaders Juventus are set to complete the signing of Sevilla defender Martin Caceres once the Uruguayan has had a medical examination, the club said.

"Martin Caceres is undergoing his medical test in Turin," read a statement on the club website (www.juventus.com) on Friday.

Caceres, who played for the Turin club in the 2009-2010 season, would become Juve's second signing in the January transfer window following the acquisition of striker Marco Borriello from Roma.

Claudio Marchisio, Simone Pepe and Mirko Vucinic will undergo late fitness tests for Saturday's top-of-the-table clash with third-placed Udinese (1945).

* Udinese face a crisis in midfield ahead of the Juventus game.

Chilean winger Mauricio Isla is struggling to make the trip to Turin after bruising his left leg while Giampiero Pinzi has been ruled out for two weeks with a calf strain.

With Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah and Nigerian Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu competing at the African Cup of Nations, coach Francesco Gudolin could give 19-year-old Cristian Battocchio a rare start.

* Fiorentina's new striker Amauri has denied delaying his move from Juventus in the hope of receiving a better offer from AC Milan.

The Brazilian-born player, who has not figured at all this season for Antonio Conte's Juventus, finally signed a deal with struggling Fiorentina on Tuesday after a long, drawn-out process.

"I'm happy to be in Florence," Amauri told reporters at his official presentation. "I was offered a two-and-a-half-year contract but I signed for six months as I wanted to first prove myself as a Fiorentina player. What's been said about waiting for Milan is just not true."

Amauri could team up with Stevan Jovetic in attack for Sunday's Tuscan derby against Siena (1130) should the Montenegrin recover from the muscle strain that led to him missing last weekend's goalless draw at Cagliari.

* Twelfth-placed Parma have signed Stefano Okaka on loan from Roma with the option of buying the Italian striker outright at the end of the season.

The 22-year old, who has already been loaned out to Modena, Brescia, Bari and Fulham, goes into new coach Roberto Donadoni's squad for Saturday's trip to Catania (1700).

* Sixth-placed Roma have converted striker Fabio Borini's loan into a co-ownership deal with Parma. With three goals this season, the 20-year-old looks set to keep his place in Luis Enrique's starting line-up for Sunday's visit of Bologna (1400).

((clare.fallon@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7933; Reuters Messaging: clare.fallon.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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