Football: Bergkamp signing blocked

Internazionale have failed to agree terms with Bayern Munich over the unsettled Dutch stiker, Dennis Bergkamp.

A Bayern delegation comprised of Franz Beckenbauer, the deputy president, Karl- Heinz Rummenigge, and the manager, Uli Honess, flew to Milan on Monday but a club spokesman said that Bergkamp was not for sale for 'technical and economic reasons'.

Bayern are said to have offered about dollars 7.8m ( pounds 5m) while Internazionale want nearer to dollars 12m for a player who cost them dollars 15.5m two years ago in a joint deal which also brought Wim Jonk from Ajax.

Beckenbauer said: 'I understand Inter. It's a question of image. How can they deprive themselves of their best known star?' Bergkamp, who missed his club's 0-0 draw at Foggia on Sunday because of a muscular problem, has proved disappointing since joining Inter in August 1993.

Scorer of eight league goals last season, Bergkamp has rarely looked comfortable in an Inter attack in which he is partnered by the Uruguyan, Ruben Sosa.

Some indication of dressing room tension between Bergkamp, Jonk and their Italian colleagues came from a statement on Monday by midfielder Andrea Seno.

'Bergkamp and Jonk are a problem . . . we have a desperate need of their skills just at the moment but our two class players simply do not help us to improve, and that's objective fact.' Seno said. Today, Inter take a 2-1 lead into the second leg of an Italian Cup third- round tie against the champions and their city rivals, Milan. Despite their current problems, both Bergkamp and Jonk are expected to play.

Tony Woodcock, the former England striker, faces the sack as the coach of the German Second Division side, VfB Leipzig, if they lose at Hansa Rostock on Sunday. Leipzig have just five points from 10 games and the chairman, Siegfried Axtmann, said: 'There is a limit to my patience. We must not lose.' Woodcock, the former Nottingham Forest, Arsenal and Cologne player, who took over in July, blames 'characterless' players for the team's plight.