Football: Ardiles eyes Popescu

ALAN SUGAR'S millions are again adding overseas spice to Tottenham. The Spurs manager Ossie Ardiles is on the verge of signing another World Cup player with the pounds 3m capture of the Romanian defender Gheorghe Popescu from PSV Eindhoven.

Ardiles was yesterday finalising the deal that could result in Popescu following his Romanian team-mate Ilie Dumitrescu and Jurgen Klinsmann - yesterday named German footballer of the year - to White Hart Lane.

Basile Boli, Rangers' pounds 2.7m summer buy from Marseille, has been ordered back to Ibrox from a break in France after criticising the club in a French magazine.

Tony Cottee, the West Ham- born striker the club sold to Everton six years ago for pounds 2.3m, is expected to rejoin the Hammers today in an exchange deal that will take the former Liverpool full- back David Burrows back to Merseyside.

The unsettled Coventry City striker Mick Quinn is poised for a move to Watford while the Liverpool midfielder Ronnie Whelan, 33 this month, is is due to have transfer talks with the Southend manager, Peter Taylor, today.

Sciatica has forced Clayton Blackmore to withdraw from the Wales squad for their European Championship qualifier with Albania on Wednesday.