Campbell narrows it down to two

The coveted Tottenham defender Sol Campbell is having talks with Arsenal after apparently narrowing his options to two clubs, Barcelona and Tottenham's north London rivals. The England defender, a free agent after leaving Tottenham, has been courted by a host of clubs.

Arsene Wenger is keen to take Campbell to Highbury as the Arsenal manager looks to renew his ageing defence and the 26-year-old is definitely interested in the move, despite the consequent vilification by Spurs fans angered at the defection.

There could be a stumbling block, however. Arsenal are unwilling to break their wage structure to clinch the transfer, with Campbell being offered a basic wage of around £50,000 a week in a five-year deal. A move abroad would be more lucrative. Spurs had said that he asked them for a total package of £130,000 a week. Against that Campbell has intimated he wants to stay in England and join a club playing in the Champions League.

Barcelona, fifth in the Spanish table, will only qualify if they beat Valencia on Sunday. Campbell's agent Sky Andrew said: "I wouldn't anticipate concrete developments for the next week or two."

Liverpool have asked to be kept informed of developments but Campbell appeared to give them an answer when he did not turn up for talks with club officials.

Arsenal are keen to land Campbell because he could hold the key to whether Patrick Vieira stays at Highbury. The £20 million-rated France midfielder is in talks with Wenger about his future after growing unhappy with Arsenal's recent relative lack of success. Signing Campbell would prove that Arsenal can meet his aspirations.

Wenger's rebuilding plans also include Everton's Francis Jeffers. Yesterday the striker turned down an £8 million move to Newcastle amid speculation that Arsenal were prepared to offer Everton a pay-as-you-play deal for the player who has been struggling with a knee injury. Another Arsenal target is reported to be the Real Madrid right-sided defender-cum-midfielder Geremi Ndjitap, although he should join Chelsea for £6.6 million.

West Ham are set to take a huge gamble and appoint Glenn Roeder as their new manager. The inexperienced 45-year-old is the choice of the West Ham board, according to informed sources, though the move will worry many fans who were expecting a more high-profile replacement for Harry Redknapp.

A player with Newcastle and Terry Venables' QPR, Roeder's managerial record is thin. He was in charge of Watford between 1993 and 1996 before departing in Feburary of that year with the team bottom of the First Division. Three months later they were relegated

Roeder then joined Glenn Hoddle's England coaching staff. When Hoddle was replaced Roeder found himself out of work. Redknapp picked him up off the coaching scrapheap, giving him a job coaching fringe reserve-team players.

But he has worked his way back. He was appointed West Ham's caretaker manager at the end of last season after Redknapp left and Hoddle still rated him enough to want to take him to Tottenham.

Sunderland, who are set to step up their interest in Bayern Munich's £8 million German international striker Carsten Jancker, have signed the HFC Haarlem centre-half Baki Mercimek under the Bosman ruling. The 18-year-old, eligible to play for both Holland and Turkey, has signed a five-year contract after spending six years at Ajax's youth academy.

The Wearsiders' manager Peter Reid yesterday released the Honduras international Milton Nunez a £1.6 million signing from PAOK Salonika in March 2000.

Terry Venables, who resurrected Middlesbrough's season from the foot of the Premiership in December to a mid-table finish, will not be joining the Teessiders as Director of Football. The former England coach is committed to a five-year deal as pundit on ITV's football coverage. Former Middlesbrough striker Fabrizio Ravenelli is close to agreeing a free transfer from Lazio to Derby.

Barcelona's Rivaldo and Real Madrid's Roberto Carlos were recalled by Brazil as new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari named his first squad on Wednesday. Scolari, nicknamed "Big Phil" (Felipao), began his reign by recalling a number of European players who had been axed by his predecessor Emerson Leao for their allegedly lacklustre performances.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter held onto his job by his fingertips after avoiding a vote of no confidence at an executive committee meeting in Zurich.

Blatter faced a grilling yesterday from European delegates to the committee over the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL/ISMM and other controversial issues. He promised a detailed reply to a list of 25 questions sent to him by UEFA president Lennart Johansson.