Ian Wright has ended his seven-year association with Arsenal by completing a move to London rivals West Ham, leaving Arsene Wenger free to recreate the Dutch World Cup strike partnership of Dennis Bergkamp and Patrick Kluivert.
Wenger will have to compete with Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United for Kluivert's signature, but Wright's departure suggests that the Arsenal manager is confident of getting his £8 million target.
Wright, 34, had talks with Wenger and the Arsenal chairman David Dein before agreeing to join West Ham on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. "I came back from holiday and I told Arsene that it was time for me to move on," said Wright. "He said he wanted me to stay, but he did not beg me. It did get quite emotional, though.
"But I want to be playing regularly. Arsenal have been winning things and been successful for the last couple of years and I would rather help put West Ham on the road to winning something and help them get bigger and bigger. I can start things bubbling here and I believe West Ham can eventually catch up with Arsenal."
Wright has won a League Championship, two FA Cups and one League Cup with Arsenal, but last season injuries often forced him to watch from the sidelines as his team-mates won the Double and a place in the Champions League. "Missing out on the World Cup brought a lot of things home to me," said Wright. "I realised that if I had to miss out on that then missing out on Europe was not such a bitter pill to swallow.
"It's ironic that a West Ham shirt was the first I ever wore as a child, and it will now be my last. I will play here for as long as I can play at this level. I just want to score goals and help start things at West Ham. They only need one more thing to start winning things and maybe that one thing is me."
The former England striker broke Cliff Bastin's Arsenal scoring record last season, finishing his Highbury career with 185 goals in 288 appearances for the Gunners following his £2.5 million transfer from Crystal Palace in September 1991.
Liverpool continued to build from the back yesterday when they agreed to pay Rosenborg £3 million for the Norwegian international fullback Vegard Heggem.
Heggem, 22, will travel to Merseyside on Thursday morning to undergo a medical examination after making a farewell appearance for the Norwegian champions. Although Heggem was a member of his country's squad at the World Cup, he played no part in the competition after suffering an injury during training. He has been linked with several leading clubs in England and Spain in recent months and Leeds United opened preliminary negotiations with Rosenborg last month.
The Liverpool manager Roy Evans made his move for Heggem after failing to persuade Eric Sikora to leave the French champions Lens. Heggem will open the new domestic season on the right-hand side of the Liverpool defence, effectively signalling the end of Rob Jones's Anfield career. The 26-yearold former England international is likely to be sold with Evans certain to demand more than £2.5 million.
Neil Ruddock, Bjorn Kvarme and Steve Harkness also face the prospect of being off-loaded as Evans bids to raise sufficient cash to buy a centre-back of proven ability. Heggem will become Liverpool's third signing of the close season following the arrivals of Steve Staunton from Aston Villa and Sean Dundee from the German club Karlsruhe.
The Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal remains confident of signing Holland's World Cup captain Frank de Boer although the Spanish club's president Josep Luis Nunez has set a seven-day deadline for Ajax to accept an offer reported to be £8.5 million. Nunez was in Paris to watch the World Cup final and continue negotiations.
The former France coach Gerard Houllier has promised to give Celtic his answer shortly on whether he will be replacing Wim Jansen at Parkhead. Today is Bastille Day and with the whole of France still celebrating their World Cup victory, Houllier is expected to delay his announcement until tomorrow.
Nevio Scala, formerly with Borussia Dortmund, is the favourite to take over at Real Madrid, the European Cup holders, following Jose Antonio Camacho's resignation after 22 days last Thursday.
