Liverpool close in on deal for Pennant

Liverpool will complete the signing of the Birmingham City winger Jermaine Pennant today after an improved bid worth about £6 million for the player proved more acceptable to the Championship club's board.

The former England under-21 midfielder was due at Melwood for a medical last night and, provided the tests show up no problems, will complete negotiations over personal terms today before travelling to Switzerland to join his new team-mates for their pre-season training camp and tour. A proportion of the fee is expected to be linked to appearances and Pennant could make his debut in Saturday's friendly against Kaiserslautern in Liechtenstein.

The signing ends a torturous pursuit of a right-sided midfielder by Rafael Benitez, who has been attempting to strengthen his side's flank virtually since his appointment at the club, with the lack of options in the position forcing him to use Steven Gerrard there for much of last term. The Spaniard's first choice had been to Sevilla's Daniel Alves but talks reached deadlock, with the Uefa Cup winners' refusal to drop their original £10 million valuation of the Brazilian eventually ending Benitez's hopes completing that signing.

There were initially similar problems with Birmingham over Pennant when the opening bid of £3.5 million was quickly dismissed; City must pay 25 per cent of any fee for the 23-year-old to his former club, Arsenal, under the terms of the deal that took the former Notts County trainee long-term from Highbury to St Andrew's a year ago. City will rest a little easier now that they will eventually make a profit of £1.5 million on a player who showed flashes of his quality last season, even if he was ultimately unable to prevent their relegation from the Premiership.

Like another of the new signings this summer, Craig Bellamy, Pennant will arrive at Anfield with much to prove. Secured as a 15-year-old from County by Arsenal for £2 million, a record fee for a trainee at the time, his impact was blunted by a succession of disciplinary problems. Even a hat-trick on his Premiership debut for the Gunners, in 2003, failed to convince Arsene Wenger that his was a talent worth pursuing and loan spells at Watford, Leeds and Birmingham followed before he signed for City last summer.

That transfer went through despite Pennant's arrest for drink-driving after he crashed his Mercedes into a lamp-post in Aylesbury while serving a 16-month driving ban, an offence which saw him sentenced to 90 days in prison. He was eventually released on parole after 30 days and played with an electronic tag on his ankle.

Pennant will travel to Switzerland once the deal is complete, with Benitez still hopeful of adding another player, most likely the Dutch international forward Dirk Kuyt, to his squad before the weekend.

Xabi Alonso insists he wants to stay at Liverpool despite reported interest from Real Madrid. The 24-year-old midfielder is believed to be a target for new Real boss Fabio Capello, but Alonso has ruled out a return to Spain.

Meanwhile, Chelsea, who set off today on a a week of training at UCLA in California,will face a Major League Soccer All-Star team on August 5th. It will be the club's third summer in succession in America with Mourinho viewing the tours as crucial for team bonding.

"I like coming to the States because of the freedom the players have," he said. "It's the beginning of the season and the players need some space, to be able to go for a walk after dinner. These are the crucial moments where, as a group, they build relationships."

One player who will not be building relationships in the US is Ashley Cole. However, the England left-back's move to Chelsea has been merely a question of timing since before the World Cup. The player's England team-mates at Stamford Bridge have known that he will join them since before the tournament started last month and the announcement of a £20 million-plus transfer will be made in the coming days.

There will first be a round of posturing between the two clubs, whose relationship is dogged with ill will. The first chapter in that saga began yesterday, when reports emerged of a £16 million bid from Chelsea having been rejected. Arsenal have reportedly raised the bar to £25 million, aware of Cole's desire to move on and perhaps keen to pique the 25-year-old, who believed he had a gentlemen's agreement that he would be allowed to move on for £16 million this summer.

Certainly Arsenal feel that they can afford to sell on their own terms because Cole still has two years left on his contract. Their hand has been further strengthened by the knowledge that Chelsea have few other options at left-back; Gianluca Zambrotta having joined Barcelona and Roberto Carlos patently past his best.