News: Robert Pires will next week sign a three-year contract extension at Arsenal that will keep him at the club until 2007.
The France international midfielder has been linked with moves to Internazionale and Valencia since July, when he entered the final year of his current deal.
However, Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger has been granted his wish that funds be made available to meet the £50,000-a-week wage demands that would keep Pires at Highbury.
The future of Pires' fellow Frenchman Sylvain Wiltord, meanwhile, remains unclear, as he has also entered the final 12 months of his contract.
However, Wenger perceives Wiltord to be a key to maintaining dressing-room morale and is keen to tie him down to an extended deal, though it is likely to fall short of the two years Wiltord is seeking.
Arsenal received another significant boost yesterday when they agreed a sponsorship deal with Nike worth up to £135 million which will help to finance their new stadium.
The deal guarantees Arsenal £55 million by the summer of 2006 and, crucially, an immediate letter of credit for that amount which the club can use to persuade banks and finance houses to back their stalled stadium project.
Arsenal hope to have the funding in place for their £400 million move from Highbury by the end of next month and could then resume building work at Ashburton Grove, where they intend to start the 2006-07 season, in January.
The agreement with Nike extends a current arrangement, which runs until next summer. The new deal runs for seven years with an option for a further three and is expected to earn Arsenal £13.5 million a year, including retailing and licensing rights.
Everton, meanwhile, remain confident Fulham's Sean Davis will reject a transfer to Middlesbrough in favour of a move to Merseyside before the Premiership kicks off next Saturday.
The 23-year-old handed in a transfer request at Loftus Road earlier this week to pave the way for Fulham's player of the year last season to leave west London with Everton, who saw a £3.5 million offer rejected last month, believed to be his preferred destination.
"Sean Davis is somebody we made an offer for five or six weeks ago and we retain our interest in him," said Everton manager David Moyes who, other than completing the permanent signing of Joseph Yobo from Marseille, has yet to add to his squad this summer. "He's somebody who I'd like to bring to the club.
Boro manager Steve McClaren made his interest in the midfielder public on Thursday as he seeks a replacement for the Cameroon international Geremi.
Both clubs will open negotiations over Davis next week and would hope to sign the player for well under Fulham's initial £ 7 million valuation.
- Guardian Service
