Briefly : Poborsky signs at last

Football

Manchester United have finally won the battle to sign the Czech Republic star Karel Poborsky. Agreement was reached with Slavia Prague after United had refused to budge on a pounds 3.5m fee for the 24-year-old midfielder. Poborsky will have a medical next week and will then sign a four-year deal thought to be worth pounds 2m. United now face a race to get his work permit through before the start of the season. The Czech midfielder has been the subject of a tug-of-war between the Premiership champions and Liverpool, but Poborsky stressed last week that Old Trafford was the only place he wanted to move to. Meanwhile, the Liverpool manager, Roy Evans, is giving Borussia Dortmund 48 hours to consider his offer for the Czech World Cup star Patrik Berger. Evans has been pursuing the 22-year-old left-sided midfielder since Euro 96 and he is tiring of the chase. He said: "I will wait until after the weekend. But, if there is no change in the situation, I will have to explore other avenues." Berger, if he signs, would not be eligible for next weekend's friendlies, and Evans will have to apply for a work permit because Berger is a non-European. The Coventry manager, Ron Atkinson, has made his first signing of the summer, the Northern Ireland international winger Michael O'Neill. O'Neill, 27, who was out of contract with Hibernian, has moved to Highfield Road for a fee of around pounds 300,000.