Houllier launches bid to prise Fernandes from Southampton

The Liverpool manager, Gérard Houllier is making a surprise approach for the Southampton winger Fabrice Fernandes.

Houllier wants the talented Frenchman to add width and creativity to his side for their push to finish in the lucrative Champions' League places at the end of the season. He is expected to make a bid of about £3.5m over the weekend.

The Southampton manager Gordon Strachan will resist but the size of the offer may sway the club's board to part with Fernandes. Liverpool want a quick answer and Merseyside sources last night suggested that the deal has a positive chance of success before the transfer window closes next Friday.

Houllier also wants the Charlton Athletic right-back Paul Konchesky, but may be unable to sign two new men. Liverpool's Portuguese full-back Abel Xavier is set to complete a loan move to the Turkish side Galatasaray today.

The Southampton left-back Wayne Bridge could miss England's friendly against Australia next month due to a calf muscle tear.

Newcastle United's attempt to land the Brazilian World Cup midfielder Kleberson appears to have floundered. The chairman, Freddy Shepherd, returned from South America last night empty-handed as the £5m-rated 23-year-old's club, Atletico Paranaense, dismissed the Magpies' offer.

However, Shepherd, who will now turn his attention to a move to recruit the Leeds United defender Jonathan Woodgate, insisted it was the Brazilians and not he who had to be realistic. "Foreign clubs must come into the real world," he said. "The Premiership is no longer a soft touch for them to make money.

"The Brazilians seem to think Europe is cash-laden and they can take advantage, but the silly days have gone."

Another Brazilian international, the goalkeeper Marcos, was poised to complete a £2.4m move from Palmeiras to Arsenal last night.

Blackburn Rovers have agreed a loan deal to bring Parma's Slovakian international left-back Vratislav Gresko from Italy to Ewood Park. Bolton Wanderers have put the midfielders Stig Tofting and Gareth Farrelly up for sale. The Trotters' manager, Sam Allardyce, wants to sell the pair to ease pressure on the club's wage bill and raise money for transfers.

Manchester City's Cam-eroon international defender Lucien Mettomo is expected to join the French side Sochaux on loan today. He will be replaced in the Maine Road squad by the Bordeaux defender David Sommeil, who has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract.

The Tottenham and Ukraine striker Sergei Rebrov has seen his proposed move to Turkey's Fenerbahce collapse. The Spurs midfielder Tim Sherwood has halted his move to Portsmouth and wants to stay at White Hart Lane.