An astonishing day of transfer activity saw a trio of Premiership clubs move to spend almost stg£52 million in preparation for European competition next season. While Manchester United opened negotiations with Lazio over what would be a British record £24 million purchase of the midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron, £19 million did change hands yesterday.
Arsenal spent an initial £8 million on Everton's striker Francis Jeffers and are willing to match Rangers' £8.5 million valuation of Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Not to be outdone, Chelsea signed Frank Lampard for £11 million.
Doubts over the impending changes to the international transfer system did not dissuade United from opening talks with Veron's agent Gustavo Mascardi at Old Trafford last night. The Argentina midfielder cleared the way for his departure after receiving the go-ahead from Lazio officials on Wednesday, although any deal is likely to depend upon the Italian passports inquiry.
The completion of the transfer will be determined by the length of any ban imposed on Veron by the Italian authorities because of his alleged fraudulent acquisition of an Italian passport in order to bypass restrictions on non-EU players. An Italian league disciplinary committee is expected to consider his case today. Should that exclusion exceed six months United's interest is likely to wane.
Arsenal, keen to stay on the pace, began their rebuilding process by handing a five-year deal to the England under-21 striker Jeffers, only the second Englishman bought by the manager Arsene Wenger in his five years at the club.
This declaration of intent should go some way to appeasing the Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira, as would the morethan-distinct possibility of Sol Campbell arriving from Tottenham.
As the 20-year-old missed much of last season with various injuries, Arsenal will pay an appearance-related £2 million. Wenger has been looking for a striker following the failure of Sylvain Wiltord and Nwanko Kanu to regularly find the net; one or other will now be sold.
Everton will use part of the fee to try and sign Anderlecht's Canada striker Tomasz Radzinski, aged 27, for £4 million. They are also looking to sell the goalkeeper Thomas Myhre to FC Copenhagen.
Wenger sees Van Bronckhorst as the ideal partner for Vieira, though the Ibrox chairman David Murray insisted he had had "no contact from Arsenal about Giovanni". However, Murray is a friend of the Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein and talks are understood to be imminent.
Across London, Chelsea completed the £11 million purchase of the England midfielder Frank Lampard from West Ham - Claudio Ranieri's first English signing - on a five-year contract.
Southampton's 28-year-old Moroccan midfielder Hassan Kachloul has joined Ipswich on a Bosman-style free transfer. Fulham have completed the signing of Saints' Portuguese forward Luis Boa Morte for 1.7 million. The 23-year-old, who scored 21 goals in 28 games on loan at Craven Cottage last season, has agreed a four-year deal.
West Ham confirmed Glenn Roeder as their new manager yesterday. The 45year-old, previously sacked as manager of Watford and Gillingham, vowed to win over his detractors and has been given a £15 million transfer kitty to help prove that he is the outstanding coach that many say. Roeder is understood to have been given only a one-year contract.
Kilkenny City have appointed Billy Walsh as manager. Walsh was at the helm at the back-end of last season when the club crashed out of the Premier Division after a most difficult season during which they collected a mere handful of points.
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