Dead certs

Birmingham City have agreed to sign Richard Kingson, the Ghana goalkeeper, from Hammarby, the Swedish club, on a free transfer. Portsmouth hope to complete the permanent signing of Arnold Mvuemba from Rennes. The French midfield player made seven loan appearances for the club last season.

Tyrone Mears has made a permanent move to Derby County for £1 million on a three-year contract. The defender, who started only three league matches for West Ham United, moved to Pride Park on loan in January.

Charlton Athletic are expected to complete the signing of Svetoslav Todorov today. The forward is out of contract at Portsmouth. Charlton have also signed Nicky Weaver, the goalkeeper, from Manchester City on a free transfer.

Everton have finalised the signing of Phil Jagielka, the defender, from Sheffield United, for £4 million. Tuncay Sanli, the attacking midfield player, has completed a move from Fenerbahçe to Middlesbrough after being granted a work permit.

Decent bets

Portsmouth are hopeful of completing a deal to sign John Utaka but the negotiations for the Rennes forward are on hold. The Nigeria player has two years left on his contract and would cost about £6 million. Rennes have decided against asking for Niko Kranjcar, the midfield player, as part of the deal. Portsmouth are also talking to David Nugent, the Preston North End forward.

Chelsea have increased their offer for Florent Malouda by £500,000 to £12.5 million, but it falls short of the £18 million demanded by Lyons. The France winger has said that he wants to move to Stamford Bridge and yesterday he left the club’s training camp in the French Alps to return to Lyons before coming back later with a club official. He had threatened not to return to preseason training.

Tottenham Hotspur have verbally offered West Bromwich Albion £4 million and Wayne Routledge, the winger, in exchange for Curtis Davies, the defender. Marseilles claim that Liverpool want £1.4 million more for Djibril Cissé than the £6 million fee that the clubs had agreed for the forward last weekend.

Fulham have made a fresh approach for Dan Shittu, of Watford, after being unable to sign other central defenders. Fulham also had an offer of £2.5 million for Jason Roberts turned down by Blackburn Rovers. The forward is believed to want to return south for personal reasons.

Fiorentina have expressed an interest in Fredrik Ljungberg, the midfield player who Arsenal have made available for sale. The Sweden player has two years left on his contract.

Mikaël Silvestre’s £1.4 million salary could prove a problem for Bordeaux in their attempt to sign the left back from Manchester United.

Long shots

Franck Queudrue’s representatives claim that Newcastle United and Everton are interested in him. The left back is among the defenders who are surplus to requirements at Fulham.

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