Everton line up Collins swoop

Everton's manager Walter Smith looks set this week to lift his spending to almost £10 million, by signing Monaco's Scottish international John Collins and Olivier Dacourt, the highly regarded Strasbourg player.

But, significantly for a club which has spent the past 18 months rummaging in the bargain basement, the spending will not stop with the arrival of two midfielders of genuine quality.

Smith's belief that the squad he inherited needs an expensive overhaul is apparently now shared by his chairman Peter Johnson, who has in the past been accused of refusing to loosen his club's purse strings.

In the hope that Smith will sell those players he deems surplus to requirements once he has finished shopping, Johnson has agreed to sanction at least two more major transfers.

Smith has already invested £3.2 million in the Italian centreback Marco Materazzi, who exchanged Perugia for Merseyside 10 days ago.

After Dacourt, who will cost £3.8 million, and Collins, priced at £2.3 million, have been acquired, Smith will try to sign a new goalkeeper and another central defender to play alongside Materazzi and the Croatian Slaven Bilic in a new-look, three-man defensive system.

Smith has already inquired about the £3.5 million-rated Napoli goalkeeper Pino Taglialatela, which suggests the Norwegian Thomas Myrhe may pay a heavy price for his inconsistency towards the end of last season.

Once Smith has added a touch of steel and artistry to a squad which preserved their Premiership status with some difficulty two months ago, he will immediately launch Operation Deadwood.

To the delight of his chairman, Smith will seek to cut Everton's mounting wage bill by offloading as many as six players.

Dieter Hamann, Germany's World Cup midfielder, is set to complete his £5 million move from Bayern Munich to Newcastle, after undergoing a medical, in the next two days. Personal terms have been agreed with the player, who will be 25 next month.

Hamann's arrival will leave Kenny Dalglish's squad with an excess of midfield players, which may pave the way for Rob Lee to return to London, with either West Ham or his former club Charlton.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have denied rumours linking Dennis Bergkamp with a move to Real Madrid, where Dutch coach Guus Hiddink has just taken over.

Hiddink is quoted in the News of the World as saying: "Dennis is an outstanding player and anyone would want him in his team. He is the best player in Holland and he was extremely valuable to us during the World Cup."

AS Roma coach Zdenek Zeman tonight came under fire from his Serie A rivals after claiming that there is a drug problem in Italian top-flight soccer.

Without naming names, the Czech made a series of accusations in the Corriere dello Sport newspaper and called for football to face up to the drugs issue.

"Football should retreat from the pharmacies and the financial world if it wants to become a sport and a game once again, which it no longer is," Zeman was quoted as saying.

His comments unleashed a furious reaction among Serie A coaches, with Bari coach Eugenio demanding he either name the culprits or else face possible legal action for apparent defamation of all the First Division coaches.

Juventus coach Marcello Lippi dismissed Zeman's claims, saying: "The world of football is clean and there is no possibility of resorting to doping."

Fiorentina's sporting director, Giancarlo Antognoni, does not believe there is a drugs problem in Italian football either.

"I don't think doping is used in football, as there are controls each week - even unannounced ones."