City move for Benarbia

The Manchester City manager, Kevin Keegan, is set to sign the Paris St-Germain midfielder Ali Benarbia. The Algerian international flew to Manchester last night to sign a three-year deal after Keegan decided he needed to boost his injury-hit squad.

City will be without Eyal Berkovic, who has a hamstring strain, for up to six weeks and Benarbia, who is a free agent, is seen as a good replacement. He once played a leading role in knocking Newcastle United out of Europe when he played for Monaco. He rejected a move to Sunderland last weekend after Peter Reid stalled on signing him, and has also turned down an offer from Southampton to link up with Keegan at Maine Road.

Nathan Blake has joined Wolves from Blackburn for an initial fee of £1.5m, which will rise if the First Division club are promoted at the end of the season.

The Blackburn manager, Graeme Souness, said: "It could be a very good move for him." A regular Welsh international, Blake joined Rovers in October 1998 from their neighbours Bolton Wanderers. He scored 13 goals in 52 appearances.

Wolves are also making a £1m attempt to sign Sunderland's Scottish midfielder Alex Rae. The Black Cats are ready to part with Rae after rejecting a bid from Wolves for him in the summer. The Wolves manager, Dave Jones, hopes to get his man by the weekend after being priced out of a bid to sign Paul Ince from Middlesbrough.

The Leeds United and England striker Alan Smith is set to return for his club against Charlton Athletic on Sunday after missing the last three weeks with an ankle ligament injury.

Swansea City have named the much-travelled Colin Addison as their manager, with Peter Nicholas, the former Wales midfielder, as his assistant.

Addison, who was in charge of Yeovil Town last season, joins the Third Division club as a replacement for John Hollins, who was sacked on Wednesday. Nicholas was manager of Barry Town.