Moyes poised to complete £5.5m move for Davis

The Everton manager, David Moyes, will end his wait for a major summer signing by signing Sean Davis from Fulham in a £5.5m deal.

The midfield schemer has been Moyes' top target for weeks and the breakthrough came when Everton increased their offer last night - and Davis made it plain that he preferred them to Middlesbrough. The former England under-21 international, who is Moyes' type of industrious but skilful player, could even sign in time to face Arsenal at the weekend.

Moyes has blown all his cash on Davis after previous offers, in instalments and with the options of player-swaps, were turned down over the close season. Now Fulham are willing to take the money on offer, knowing they have Sunderland's Claudio Reyna tied up as his replacement after agreeing a fee and speaking to the United States midfielder.

Reyna's move will go through once the Davis money is in the bank - and he could also be available to Fulham for their opening game with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Fulham made a last-minute attempt to hijack Kevin Phillips' move from Sunderland to Southampton yesterday. Their manager Chris Coleman will use any spare cash from the sale of Davis to finance the £3m move.

Manchester City's out-of-favour Lucien Mettomo has put a move to Wolves on hold because of interest from Kaiserslautern. The Cameroon centre-half was due to join Dave Jones's side after being shown the door by Kevin Keegan. But now the Bundesliga side have stepped in.

The Manchester City goalkeeper, Carlo Nash, is ready to go to Middlesbrough as Nicky Weaver wins his long battle for fitness. Nash has become disillusioned since the arrival of David Seaman and he is speaking to Steve McClaren about replacing the Fulham-bound Mark Crossley.

Peter Ridsdale has been told to "put up or shut up" by the Barnsley chairman, Sean Lewis. The former Leeds chief executive is trying to find a way into the Second Division club, but Lewis, who beat Ridsdale to seal an agreement with the former chairman, Peter Doyle, is growing frustrated.

"Talk is cheap, but investment is a bit more expensive," Lewis said. "I have had no contact from Ridsdale ... about putting money into Barnsley. It is annoying and distressing for the club. Ridsdale has missed the boat."