Arsenal offer pounds 3m for Stubbs

Football

Arsenal made a pounds 3m plus offer to rescue Alan Stubbs from his personal nightmare at Bolton yesterday. In a chairman to chairman move, Arsenal tabled a bid for the centre-half, whose move to Blackburn Rovers collapsed just 24 hours earlier.

Bruce Rioch, the Arsenal manger, has gone in low as he knows his old club are in a dilemma over Stubbs, who asked to go on the transfer list yesterday. Rioch has been unhappy about the affair since being quoted pounds 5m for Stubbs last weekend when Blackburn had agreed pounds 4m plus instalments for the player as part of the Jason McAteer package, which fell through when McAteer chose Liverpool instead. The Irish international completed his pounds 4.5m transfer yesterday.

Blackburn, however, have been boosted by news that the versatile Paul Warhurst has completed his first full game in six months, for the reserves, since suffering his second broken leg at Ewood Park.

Manchester City are set to unveil Gerry Creaney as Uwe Rosler's new strike partner after reaching agreement with Portsmouth over a part exchange deal which sees the former Portsmouth favourite Paul Walsh return to the First Division club with a pounds 500,000 cash adjustment.

Another of the Premiership's strugglers, Tottenham Hotspur, have announced that they are "optimistic" of signing two unnamed foreigners before the end of next week.

Crystal Palace have signed Dougie Freedman, the Barnet forward, for pounds 700,000, which is just as well because their other new signing, Jeroen Boere, has torn knee ligaments in training and will be out for six weeks.

Sepp Blatter, the president of Fifa, is under investigation by the Swiss authorities for non-payment of taxes, according to a Swiss newspaper.