Cygan arrival signals end of the Adams era

Pascal Cygan yesterday signed a four-year deal with Arsenal in a move that appears to confirm the imminent retirement of Tony Adams.

Cygan, 28, arrived at Highbury for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £2.5m, from the French club Lille. The arrival of the centre-back came on the same day the club announced that another of their defenders, Martin Keown, had signed a new two-year deal.

Wenger views the left-footed Frenchman as an ideal complement to either Keown or Sol Campbell and is the man that will be handed the gargantuan task of filling Adams' size 13s.

The Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, who also confirmed that the club are negotiating a new contract for the goalkeeper David Seaman, said: "We are waiting officially for the position with Tony Adams, who will no doubt be announcing – we assume he will be announcing – his retirement very shortly. But that's his prerogative, what he intends to do."

The former Arsenal player, the Japanese international Junichi Inamoto, is expected to sign for Fulham, after reaching a deal with his J-League club, according to reports in Japan.

Fulham have agreed to pay Gamba Osaka £3m for the 22-year-old midfielder. Inamoto, who scored two goals for Japan at the World Cup finals, returned to Gamba after being released by Arsenal last month following a year on loan.

Middlesbrough's attempt to bring the Brazilian World Cup winner Juninho back to Teesside was on hold last night as the player's father headed back to South America.

Boro had hoped to lure the 29-year-old Atletico Madrid player back to the Premiership after agreeing a fee with the Spanish side last week. However, despite making what they believe was an attractive offer to Juninho, his father and agent, Osvaldo Giroldo, set off back to São Paulo after rejecting the personal terms.

Dwight Yorke's move from Manchester United to Blackburn Rovers has hit a new snag over a potential windfall for the out-of-favour striker. He is looking for a large chunk of the money United will receive from Blackburn to sign him as he has not asked for a transfer.

Blackburn are still keen on pairing Yorke with Andy Cole, but the move will not go ahead at the current figures and the pay-off question further hampers their chances of success.

Everton are making a third and final bid for the Derby goalkeeper Mart Poom with an offer worth close to £4m. Derby have rejected the initial two bids over the past few weeks but this latest offer is the highest that the Goodison club are willing to go before ending the pursuit.

The Poland World Cup striker Emmanuel Olisadebe is set to complete his move to Birmingham City from Panathinaikos.