Steve Bruce bolstered his Sunderland defence last night after agreeing to sign Michael Turner from Hull City for a fee that could rise to £12 million.
Sunderland will pay an initial £6 million for the defender, whose valuation has been inflated because of a sell-on clause meaning that about 15 per cent needs to be paid to Brentford, who sold him for £350,000 three years ago.
The price dissuaded Liverpool from pursuing their interest in Turner, 25, who has been named as Hull’s player of the year for the past two seasons. Bruce has agreed to sell Danny Collins to Stoke City for £3.5 million, but the defender has yet to make up his mind on the move.
In addition, Sunderland are trying to sell Nyron Nosworthy to Hull as their replacement for Turner.
Decent bets
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Portsmouth are chasing Amr Zaki, the former Wigan Athletic forward, and Boudewijn Zenden, the former Chelsea winger. Zaki’s agent has said that Portsmouth’s offer for the forward has been turned down by Zamalek, the Egyptian club. “Portsmouth offered £3 million or £2.5 million plus 50 per cent of the next sale to buy him permanently,” Nader Shawki, the agent, said. “They also made a £500,000 loan offer, but Zamalek aren’t ready to sell.”
Zenden had held talks with Hull, Blackburn Rovers and Portsmouth after having turned down the offer of a new two-year contract from Marseilles. Portsmouth are also keen to re-sign Benjani Mwaruwari after the forward’s proposed move from Manchester City to Hull broke down over personal demands. The clubs have agreed a fee for the striker.
Portsmouth have also agreed to sign Hassan Yebda, the midfield player, 25, on loan from Benfica.
Queens Park Rangers are close to signing Ben Watson, six months after the midfield player moved to Wigan for £2 million.
Fulham have revived their interest in Pawel Brozek as they attempt to strengthen their squad for their Europa League campaign this season. The forward, who has been valued at about £2 million, helped Wisla Krakow to the Polish title in each of the past two seasons, scoring a total of 42 goals in the process.
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Birmingham City and Newcastle United are trying to sign Peter Lovenkrands, who worked with Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, at Rangers. Lovenkrands is a free agent after falling out of contract at St James’ Park at the end of last season. Birmingham are in talks with Sunderland about signing Teemu Tainio.
The proposed £5.5 million transfer of Johnny Heitinga from Atl?tico Madrid to Everton remains in the balance as the Merseyside club endeavour to agree terms with the versatile defender, who is reluctant to take a pay cut from the £80,000 per week he earns in Madrid. That is far in excess of Everton’s salary structure.
Newcastle are hoping to snap up James Vaughan on loan from Everton and are also negotiating a temporary deal for Craig Cathcart, Manchester United’s Northern Irish defender. Fabio Zamblera, the striker, is expected to leave Newcastle for Roma.
Middlesbrough have accepted an estimated £7 million bid for Afonso Alves, their record £12 million signing, from Al-Sadd, the Qatari side.
Dead certs
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Richard Dunne, the defender, has resolved his issues with Manchester City and will put the finishing touches to his move to Aston Villa this morning. The deal will cost £6 million, with no add-ons, and the Ireland international will receive £1 million after nine years of service at the club. Villa are also close to a £5 million deal for James Collins, the defender, from West Ham United. West Ham have sold Savio, the midfield player, to Fiorentina in exchange for Manuel da Costa, a defender, plus about £3 million. West Ham will receive 50 per cent of the fee from any future sale.
Stoke City completed a £2.9 million deal last night with Club Nacional for Diego Arismendi, the Uruguay midfield player, 21. The fee could rise to nearly £5 million.
Tal Ben-Haim signed a four-year deal with Portsmouth yesterday after leaving Manchester City. “It’s a great challenge to be at Portsmouth and I hope to help the team meet its targets,” the defender said.
Wolverhampton Wanderers have completed a loan deal for Segundo Castillo from Red Star Belgrade. The Ecuador midfield player, 27, spent last season on loan at Everton. Wolves have signed Stefan Maierhofer, the striker, from Rapid Vienna.
Charles Itandje, the goalkeeper, has joined Kavala, the Greek club, on loan from Liverpool. Racing Santander have reached a deal to sign Xisco on a season’s loan from Newcastle. Grant Leadbitter and Daryl Murphy will join Ipswich Town from Sunderland for a fee of £2.8 million, rising to £4 million.
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Long shots
West Ham’s bid for Marouane Chamakh, the forward, has been turned down by Bordeaux. “It would astonish me really to leave now,” he said.
Bids by Tottenham and Rangers for J?rôme Rothen, the left winger, have been rejected by Paris Saint-Germain.
Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers have been linked with Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, the striker who is a free agent after leaving Celtic.