Football: McGoldrick moves to Arsenal for 1m pounds

EDDIE McGOLDRICK, the winger Steve Coppell converted into a sweeper, last night completed a pounds 1m move north of the Thames from Crystal Palace to Arsenal. The Republic of Ireland international signed a four-year contract, but he has no guarantee of first-team football.

Arsenal's manager George Graham noticed McGoldrick when he joined Northampton for pounds 10,000 from non-League Nuneaton Borough in 1986 and followed his career at Selhurst Park after a pounds 200,000 transfer to Palace in January 1989.

McGoldrick's Irish international team-mate Roy Keane will not be finalising plans to leave Nottingham Forest, almost certainly to join Blackburn Rovers, until after he has played in the Republic's World Cup qualifying match against Lithuania in Vilnius on Wednesday.

Blackburn have bid pounds 3.5m for Keane, but Forest's new manager, Frank Clark, said that was not enough. 'Roy's going nowhere until we get the pounds 5m at which we value him,' he said.

Clark is also involved in contract talks with Stuart Pearce, the England full-back, who wants a wage increase.

Les Ferdinand is expected to sign for Newcastle United in the next few days. Newcastle have increased the pounds 3.3m offer rejected by Queen's Park Rangers at Christmas and Ferdinand will join them for pounds 3.6m when he arrives home from England's United States tour, which he has left early owing to injury.

Birmingham City have turned down an offer of pounds 2m from the Italian club Ascoli for Andy Saville and Paul Moulden. They joined Birmingham just before transfer-deadline day in March - Saville from Hartlepool, Moulden from Oldham - and scored 13 goals between them to help the club avoid relegation to the Second Division.