English FA Premiership: Wayne Rooney - to near-audible sighs of relief - has finally put pen to paper on his first professional contract at Goodison Park and almost three months after Everton had hoped to tie up the deal.

The striker has signed a three-year contract - the maximum permitted for a 17-year-old - which will make him the highest paid youngster in Everton's history and one of the richest teenagers in world football after protracted negotiations between the club and the player's representatives.

With the thorny issue of image rights settled and a compromise reached on his wage package, the striker will now earn £13,000-aweek plus bonuses during the first year of his deal, a salary that would theoretically rise for the remaining two of the agreement.

However, Everton are expected to offer Rooney a new contract in October, to be signed on his 18th birthday, when they can tie him down for a maximum of five further years.

The news will come as a relief to Everton's fans and management, who had been left to fret as negotiations appeared to stall after Rooney burst dramatically on to the scene with a blistering 25-yard, last-minute winner to shatter Arsenal's 30-match unbeaten Premiership record in October.

Then, Everton had hoped to sign the striker on a three-year contract and an initial salary of £8,000-a-week on October 24th, his 17th birthday, with a wage review after 12 months.

However, Rooney's decision to switch agents from Peter MacIntosh to Paul Stretford's company ProActive delayed the deal, with the former agent's contract only expiring on December 13th and the latter's demands for his new client initially in excess of those on offer.

That left Rooney earning a basic £90-a-week as he played under a scholarship contract, though his regular outings for the first-team boosted that to nearer £1,500.

"I think everyone knows that me and my family are Evertonmad," Rooney said. "For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed of playing for the club and to actually be appearing in the first team is fantastic.

"I'm really enjoying my football at the moment and I love training with the rest of the lads, though I honestly cannot find the words to describe the feeling I get when I run out at Goodison Park wearing the blue shirt."

Arsene Wenger said yesterday that he plans to sign an experienced goalkeeper this month as short-term cover for David Seaman.

Freddie Ljungberg, meanwhile, has suffered a minor setback in his recovery from an Achilles injury.

Ljungberg has missed Arsenal's past five games, firstly with a virus and then with the Achilles injury which is still affecting him.

"Freddie will be out for at least two more weeks," Wenger said.

Chelsea will be reprimanded by the Premier League for failing to warn the league or Charlton in advance about the dreadful state of the pitch at Stamford Bridge last weekend.

The Premier League is unlikely to accede to Charlton's demand that the match be replayed, but Chelsea can expect to have their knuckles rapped for not bringing the condition of the heavily sanded pitch to anyone's attention.

Sergei Rebrov's proposed move from Tottenham to Fulham has stalled because the striker is worried that Jean Tigana will not be at the club next season.

FIFA have no plans to change the qualifying system for the 2006 World Cup despite reports that holders Brazil want the format changed, world soccer's governing body said yesterday.

Britain's Daily Mail said yesterday that Ricardo Teixeira, president of the Brazilian football federation, will present an idea for a 40-team format - rather than the current 32 teams - for the finals at FIFA's meeting in Qatar in October.

"We do not plan any changes," a FIFA spokesman told Reuters. "We have not received any documentation from Brazil (asking for changes)."

-Guardian Service