Jurgen Klinsmann yesterday strolled back into White Hart Lane to give the Spurs faithful an early Christmas present. The German skipper left in acrimonious circumstances in 1995 when he exercised a get-out clause in his contract to go to Bayern Munich and then Sampdoria.

A furious Alan Sugar famously criticised the 33-year-old and said his number 18 Tottenham shirt was not good enough to wash his car with. But Klinsmann had no hesitation in making an extraordinary return to the Premiership strugglers, this time his shirt number matching his age, with a contract until the end of the season for a fee of £175,000.

His spell in Sampdoria had been ruined by an ankle ligament injury and he scored only two goals in his eight appearances. There was also a bust-up between Klinsmann and Sampdoria coach Boskov that proved to be the final straw.

Klinsmann said: "I felt very very comfortable here and this is something you don't forget. You are always attached to your club and it's normal that you follow them."

Joe Royle will tell the Irish Football Association early in the new year if he wants to become Northern Ireland's new manager. The former Everton and Oldham manager was interviewed by IFA president Jim Boyce at the end of last week about the vacant position.

Alex Ferguson faces an anxious FA Cup fitness wait on Denis Irwin after Phil Neville was ruled out of Manchester United's Stamford Bridge showdown with Chelsea on January 4th.

But Irwin, out of action since being the victim of an over the top foul by Feyenoord's Paul Bosvelt, is behind schedule in his recovery. The experienced defender's planned reserve outing on Saturday was cancelled and Ferguson admitted it was touch-and-go for the Chelsea clash.

Newcastle United have dismissed an approach from Parma to buy back Faustino Asprilla. Parma made contact with Newcastle, to whom they sold Asprilla in February 1996, last week.

However, striker Ian Rush may make the inevitable move into management earlier than had been expected. Rush may well replace Gary Peters at second division Preston Northend unless the Lancashire club's fortunes pick up appreciably over the festive period.

Liverpool made another investment for the future yesterday when they signed the Icelandic under-21 international forward Haukua Gudnason from Keflavik. Liverpool have made an initial down payment of £150,000 for Gudnason whose price could rise to £500,000 if he was to progress through the Anfield ranks.