Bolton want to sign pounds 1.5m Hughes from Chelsea

Bolton Wanderers are trying to sign the former Manchester United player Mark Hughes in a pounds 1.5m deal from Chelsea.

Colin Todd, the Bolton manager, wants to sign Hughes before the two sides meet in the Coca-Cola Cup later this month.

Arsene Wenger arrived for his first official day's work at Arsenal yesterday and pledged: "Only the best will be good enough for me."

The Gunners' new French manager, who is on a three-year contract worth around pounds 2m, knows that no foreign coach has ever won the title in England or led a Premiership team to lasting success. He said yesterday: "This is my challenge and, quite simply, my ambition is to win every match and every competition we play in. The League championship is the mark of real quality for me, the first ambition. Everything follows from that.

Wenger, whose first match in charge is at Blackburn on 12 October, said he sees goalkeeper David Seaman, 32, captain Tony Adams, 30, and striker Ian Wright, 33 in November, as the backbone of the team.

"Over the next few days I will be talking to the players on an individual basis, but nobody need fear coming to see me. I will not be cutting anybody, but I would like to buy new players as well because the squad is a bit small.

"I look at Ian Wright and he is not like a normal 33. He is extremely fit and strong. It is the same with Tony Adams who I know is a great leader. And for Seaman, as a goalkeeper, his age is unimportant.

"The players have to adapt to me and I must adapt to them," he said. "We must be tolerant of one another. They will all have their chance because what has gone on before is not my responsibility."

The rift between Pierre Van Hooijdonk and Celtic widened yesterday when the Dutchman hit back at the club's criticism of him.

Tommy Burns, the Celtic manager, warned the 26-year-old striker, who has been called up by the Netherlands for their World Cup qualifying game in Wales on Saturday, to "learn humility" after he asked for a transfer unless he received a wage increase.

Van Hooijdonk has also been accused of refusing to speak to the media and failing to take part in various club activities which he is contractually obliged to carry out, but he said yesterday: "After I opened the papers this morning, I think people are kidding hundreds of thousands of Celtic supporters.

"If you use the press all the time in the way you talk to each other, then that says enough about the situation I think. What's important is that the team is a success."

Ray Wilkins, the former Queen's Park Rangers manager, has ruled himself out of succeeding Alex Miller as manager of Hibernian, but he does want a second month's contract as a player.

"I am not interested in the managerial position," Wilkins said. "I would prefer to take a break from management at present. But I intend returning to Hibs for another month as a player. I spoke to Alex about it after Saturday's game and agreed verbally to stay another month.

n Zimbabwe and Tanzania could be expelled from world football after playing a match on Sunday in the five-nation Castle Cup, which went ahead without the approval of world football's governing body, Fifa. Zimbabwe won the match, Bruce Grobbelaar's first as their coach, 1-0.