DIGEST/Venables moves for Christie: The Leeds United manager Terry Venables wants Derby County's striker Malcolm Christie to replace Robbie Fowler, who will complete his £7.5 million move to Manchester City today.
Preliminary negotiations have been held and Leeds are confident of beating Middlesbrough to finalise a deal that would replenish the club's attacking options but might do little to appease the supporters who have seen three high-profile players leave Elland Road in the space of a week.
Fowler will have a medical examination today and if passed fit will sign a four-and-a-half-year deal.
Venables has asked his board for permission to use some of the £7.5 million on ending Christie's five-year spell at Pride Park. Derby's dire financial position means they will listen to offers in the region of £2 million for the 23-year-old striker, despite reputedly turning down a £5 million offer from Middlesbrough last season.
Christie, who stated at the weekend that he wanted to leave Derby to return to the Premiership, has scored eight times for the First Division club this season and has a goals-to-games ratio of one in three since signing from Nuneaton Borough for £50,000 in 1998. Yet there will be Leeds fans who question the wisdom of selling an established Premiership striker such as Fowler and replacing him with a relatively unproven player.
Along with his chairman Peter Ridsdale, Venables is acutely aware of this disenchantment - Fowler has followed Lee Bowyer and Olivier Dacourt in leaving Elland Road - and knows it is unlikely to be eased by his pursuit of Birmingham's Stan Lazaridis.
Leeds will step up their interest in the Brazilian international Kleberson, whose club, Atletico Paranaense, are in financial turmoil of their own and would want £4 million for the midfielder. Newcastle are also interested in signing Kleberson.
Ridsdale also hopes to provide some better news at the end of a difficult period for the club by agreeing new contracts with three of their established players. Talks are at an advanced stage with Danny Mills and Alan Smith, and Ridsdale expects Harry Kewell to sign a deal next week that would make him the club's highest earner with a weekly salary of £48,000.
-Guardian Service
England players gambled
Former Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino claims that England players gambled thousands of pounds in a card school during the World Cup. Cascarino made the claim in the wake of weekend revelations by Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen that he had lost up to £400,000 gambling in casinos.
Cascarino also claimed that one England player wrote out a cheque for £30,000 on the plane home after running up gambling debts during the tournament - a scenario, which if proved correct, could prompt an investigation by the FA.
"I know there was a big gambling school among the England team in the World Cup last summer," said Cascarino. "The players kept an account of who'd won and lost what through the tournament and on the flight back one of them, a big name, wrote out a cheque for £30,000."
Spurs fans issue threat
Tottenham's chairman Daniel Levy will be warned at a meeting this week that supporters could desert Spurs if the club do not sign quality players to secure a place in Europe.
Levy has asked to meet representatives of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust after it sent him a letter demanding to know what money was available for transfers and saying that fans might not stomach mediocrity much longer.
Spurs have stated that they must sell players before they can buy and the trust said in its letter: "This is particularly confusing to supporters as in the summer we were told on a number of occasions that the club was looking to bring in at least two strikers including the likes of Rivaldo and (Fernando) Morientes, neither of whom would be cheap to sign."
Levy has been asked to clarify whether money has been withdrawn by the board and was warned: "Spurs supporters have been remarkably loyal to the club despite recent years where the club has been in the football wilderness. That loyalty could be put at risk by a failure to invest in the quality players Spurs desperately need in order to secure European football next season."
-Guardian Service
Gascoigne off to China
Paul Gascoigne's latest attempt to resurrect his career last night had him taking a fast plane to China. Gascoigne, whose previous long-distance journey to find a club took him west on an unsuccessful mission to the United States, now headed to Beijing and the capital city club Liaoning.
The 35-year-old former England midfielder, without a club since leaving Burnley in the summer, will sign a £500,000-a-year deal in the next 48 hours if he and his travelling team of advisers like what they see in China.
-Guardian Service
Transfer rumours
Robbie Fowler and Tottemham's Sergei Rebrov are set to spark a transfer merry-go-round that could involve Republic of Ireland international Gary Doherty.
Manchester City will today complete the signing of Fowler, which could signal a move for City striker Shaun Goater to Bolton. That would allow Bolton to sell Michael Ricketts to Spurs, with Doherty going in the opposite direction to the Reebok Stadium. Spurs must first find some cash to finance the Ricketts deal, which is why they are hoping to agree a fee with Fulham to take Rebrov off their hands. Finally, once Spurs sign Ricketts, manager Glenn Hoddle will release Les Ferdinand, who is poised for a move across London to West Ham.
One stumbling block, however, could be Rebrov's reluctance to join Fulham, as he might prefer a loan move to Fenerbahce.
In Brief . . .
Andrei Kanchelskis has left Southampton and joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of the season. Blackburn manager Graeme Souness is hoping to Spanish international left back Juanfran of Celta Vigo. Manchester United have held further negotiations with Sunderland about buying the 20-year-old French winger David Bellion. Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed insists that Craven Cottage had not been sold off in the wake of reports that the ground had been sold to a finance and development company. Arsenal's Ashley Cole has been given a two-match ban and a £2,000 fine after pleading guilty to directing abusive language at the referee Paul Durkin as he left the pitch after Arsenal's 3-2 defeat by Southampton in November. Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini will be available to face Manchester United this weekend after learning he will not have to serve a suspension following his red card against Middlesbrough after a clash with Dean Windass. Windass is now close to completing a move to Sheffield United.England have backed away from a row with Everton by leaving Wayne Rooney out of their World Under-20 Championship side.
