Lazio last night declared that Arsenal had offered to reopen talks over Nicolas Anelka after another day of confusion.

The Italian club had earlier announced that Anelka would be attending a news conference today alongside Lazio owner Sergio Cragnotti to publicly insist that he wanted to join the Serie A side.

However, entirely in keeping with the unseemly saga which has dragged on over the past couple of weeks, the scheduled conference was called off.

Guido Paglia, a spokesman for Cragnotti, explained: "The reason is because Arsenal have said that they want to continue to deal with us. We are waiting for Arsenal to call us to invite us to London for talks."

Negotiations had broken down when Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein rejected a revised offer from Lazio of £18 million, plus an extra £4 million if Anelka was then sold on before 2003, insisting that the price-tag of £22 million must be met immediately.

Brazil Stroll Through To Final

Brazil coasted into Sunday's Copa America final with a 2-0 victory over Mexico in Ciudad Del Este. First-half goals from Amoroso and Rivaldo proved enough for the five-times Copa winners in a match they dominated. Only an inexperienced Uruguay team can now prevent Brazil from lifting the oldest prize in international football.

Liverpool will sign Newcastle midfielder Dietmar Hamann on Monday in an £8m deal which makes him the second most expensive player in the Merseyside club's history behind Stan Collymore. Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit finally accepted Liverpool's offer after learning that the only other serious bidder, Borussia Dortmund, had ended their interest earlier in the day.