SOCCER: Michael Ballack's agent yesterday gave the green light for a summer move to Chelsea after Jose Mourinho's confirmation of interest in the 29-year-old Germany midfielder. Ballack's deal with Bayern Munich expires in May and he intends to quit the Bundesliga.

Chelsea, who have been pursuing him discreetly, will have to stave off interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and several Italian clubs but the Premiership champions are the undoubted favourites to sign him.

"There is strong interest from both sides," his agent Michael Becker said. "Nothing is signed but there are ongoing talks."

Ballack's ambition is to win the Champions League. He was a finalist with Bayer Leverkusen in 2002 but his current club have managed only one quarter-final appearance - when they were knocked out by Chelsea last season - and have suffered one first- and two second-round exits with him in the side.

He believes his chances will be enhanced at Chelsea, and so strong is his desire to join the Premiership leaders that he is understood to have instructed his representatives to conduct negotiations only with them.

That situation may change; Ballack has still to agree personal terms, has not met Mourinho and will also seek assurances about who else will join and who might leave in the summer. It is understood that talk of Frank Lampard going to Barcelona is speculative and Mourinho is keen to combine the pair in his midfield.

Ballack is seeking a four-year contract with Chelsea and the mooted £120,000-a-week deal may be concluded as early as next month. That would come as a particular blow to United, where Alex Ferguson had seen Ballack as the natural successor to Roy Keane.

Arsenal's hopes of securing David Beckham depend entirely on the events of the next five months at Real Madrid.

Arsene Wenger has repeatedly stated his admiration for the England captain over the past week but Beckham remains committed to the Spanish club.

Talks on an extension to his contract with Madrid, which expires next summer, are inchoate but he anticipates progress in the near future. It is expected that Madrid will soon enter a period of greater stability after the turmoil of the almost three years Beckham has spent in the Spanish capital, during which time six managers have held the reins.

Though the current caretaker Juan Ramon Lopez Caro's fate was sealed by Madrid's Champions League exit to Arsenal last week, it is believed that Juventus's Fabio Capello will replace him. Beckham would relish the chance to play for the respected Italian coach and would leave only if Capello chose to sell him.

Perhaps the most telling words in Wenger's statement about Beckham on Sunday after the 2-1 defeat of Liverpool were: "I'm more focused on the short term and getting the best out of the players until the end of the season".

It is known that Thierry Henry, who has also yet to sign an extension to his contract, which expires in June 2007, is seeking assurances about Arsenal's spending power. The implication that Beckham is affordable sends out a distinct message to Wenger's ambitious captain.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League would almost certainly force Henry into the welcoming arms of Barcelona. Should Arsenal fail to finish in the Premiership top four, they would have to win the European Cup outright this season. A quarter-final against Juventus - and Patrick Vieira - stands in the way.

Stuart Pearce will be interviewed for the England manager's job, along with Alan Curbishley, Sam Allardyce and up to seven others. The English Football Association has contacted Manchester City and, although no date has been set, Pearce has confirmed that he will meet the FA's chief executive Brian Barwick - "It would be rude not to."

The City manager chose his words carefully so as not to offend his employers but he managed to make it clear that he wants, at the very least, the opportunity to discuss replacing Sven-Goran Eriksson after this summer's World Cup finals.

Along with Curbishley, Allardyce and everyone else with a Premiership job, Pearce is considered to be behind Martin O'Neill in the FA's reckoning, but his stance has altered radically since he ruled himself out of the running several times in January and February.

Barwick is thought to have spoken to City and asked to speak to Pearce once tonight's FA Cup fifth-round replay with Aston Villa is out of the way.

"It's not a distraction for me," Pearce said. "My head's been full of Portsmouth versus Manchester City all weekend and now it's full of Manchester City versus Aston Villa."

Guardian Service