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Kanouté supplements Tottenham's firepower

Bill Pierce
Tuesday 05 August 2003 00:00 BST
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Tottenham have completed the £3.5m signing of Frédéric Kanouté from West Ham. The French striker, who will be Glenn Hoddle's third signing in attack this summer, has been put through a rigorous medical examination spread over several days to ensure he has suffered no lasting effects from the groin injury which plagued him last season.

With the Spurs' doctors satisfied, the former Lyon player will arrive at White Hart Lane to join the £6.25m Portuguese forward, Helder Postiga, and £1.5m Bobby Zamora from Brighton. West Ham have already secured the £1m-rated winger Matthew Etherington from Spurs as part of the deal.

With two of the most injury-hit players in the game already on Tottenham's books in Darren Anderton and Jamie Redknapp, and the club starkly aware of the fitness problems that hit the squad again last season, Hoddle wanted to ensure Kanouté was given a clean bill of health.

"Freddie will balance off nicely with the other strikers we have brought to the club," Hoddle said. "But he won't be my last signing. We've lost too many defenders to injuries and we are stretched for midfielders too. It is worrying with the season just a couple of weeks away but we've just got to get on with it and I'm still looking around."

The Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has underlined his reputation for recruiting players on a shoestring by securing the cut-price signing of the teenage French defender Gael Clichy.

Arsenal have had to pay only around £250,000 in compensation to Cannes for Wenger's 18-year-old compatriot, who impressed with a string of solid performances in pre-season friendlies. With the Brazilian left-back Juan now joining Millwall on a three-month loan, Clichy will probably be initially employed as cover for Arsenal's England international Ashley Cole.

Middlesbrough have completed the signing of the former Aston Villa full-back Alan Wright. The 31-year-old defender has agreed a one-year contract and becomes manager Steve McClaren's second signing of the summer.

Wright will contest the left-back spot with veteran Colin Cooper, as Franck Queudrue is suspended for the first five games of the season after being sent off three times last season, and his young deputy, David Murphy, recovering from a broken bone in his foot.

Leeds have completed the signing of the Paris St Germain defender Didier Domi, subject to a medical. The former Newcastle player has joined on a 12-month loan and Leeds have the right to buy him for £2m

The Birmingham striker Luciano Figueroa has received international clearance. The 22-year-old Argentinian, a £2.5m signing from Rosario Central, completed his move to St Andrews' 10 days ago but was not allowed to join up with his team-mates until clearance was granted.

West Midlands police are not to launch an investigation into the Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie after his altercation with a section of the club's fans during Saturday's friendly at Walsall.

Hendrie angrily kicked the ball into the section holding the Villa fans after coming in for abuse during the second half of their 2-1 defeat but a West Midlands police spokesman said that questioning the former England international was not on the agenda.

The Watford chairman Graham Simpson is expecting a costly High Court confrontation with the club's former manager, Gianluca Vialli, before Christmas. The Hornets dismissed Vialli's last summer with two years left to run on his contract after a disastrous season in which wage costs soared and the team finished 14th in the First Division. But the Italian has so far refused to settle out of court and cash-strapped Watford have had to budget for a legal battle over his sacking.

Simpson said: "We made an offer to Luca and he hasn't accepted it. We've always said we want to settle this. We see no point in it going to the High Court. He's adamant he has his own agenda as to what he wants to receive. Sadly for everybody solicitors are involved."

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