Spurs need to dig deeper for Davies

Tottenham must consider increasing their bid for West Brom's Curtis Davies after the relegated club rejected an initial £3.5m offer. The 21-year-old central defender had an outstanding season for Albion despite their demotion to the Championship, but manager Bryan Robson is determined to keep his squad together.

Davies cost Albion £3m from Luton last summer but the England Under-21 international has since attracted a host of admirers with his stylish displays in the Premiership.

Spurs are also reportedly close to the double capture of Chelsea's Carlton Cole and Wigan's transfer-seeking full-back, Pascal Chimbonda.

The north London club have already had two offers for the defender rejected by Wigan but the Lancashire outfit are now believed to have accepted a £4.5m offer, plus the reserve goalkeeper Radek Cerny.

Meanwhile, the Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids is set to quit Spurs and return to Ajax.

The Valencia striker Marco Di Vaio said he has no intention of joining Liverpool in a swap deal with Fernando Morientes. The club will make a second application next week for Chile's Mark Gonzalez to be granted a work permit. The 22-year-old, who has been loaned out to Real Sociedad, hopes to be allowed to join Liverpool when they start pre-season training. A year ago Liverpool had their application rejected, largely because Chile were outside the top 70 in Fifa's rankings.

The Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp will monitor the form of Serbia and Montenegro's giant striker Nikola Zigic on Saturday after being priced out of the market for Andy Johnson and warned off Henri Camara by Wigan.

The former Liverpool and Rangers full-back Gregory Vignal has joined Lens on a four-year contract from Pompey.

* Ashley Cole will tell Arsenal he wants to quit the club this summer, according to reports last night. Arsenal will demand £16m for the left-back, who is courted by Real Madrid, Barcelona and Chelsea. Cole's team-mate, Robert Pires, will join Villarreal today, according to reports. The Arsenal midfielder has agreed a two-year £5m deal.