Football: Southampton up the stakes to pounds 5m in move for Jansen

THE money Southampton made from the sale of Kevin Davies to Blackburn is not being allowed to gather much interest, with the Saints prepared to withdraw pounds 5m of the pounds 7.25m they deposited seven days ago to lure Matt Jansen from Crystal Palace.

The Southampton manager, Dave Jones, made an improved offer yesterday for the 20-year-old striker who made an explosive start to his Premier League career when he joined Palace earlier this year. Jones had an initial pounds 3.5m bid rejected by the relegated London club last week.

There was also activity in the Selhurst Park boardroom yesterday with Mark Goldberg completing his takeover and becoming club chairman with immediate effect. Terry Venables will take charge as head coach. The agreement, which was concluded in the early hours, sees the Bromley-based Goldberg purchase the club for pounds 22m with a further option on the ground's freehold.

Alan Thompson signed for Aston Villa in a pounds 4.8m deal last night, despite a late bid from Blackburn. Thompson was on his way to Villa Park yesterday when Rovers faxed their rival offer. The 24-year-old Bolton midfielder with the powerful left-foot shot shook hands on a five-year contract without talking to the big-spending neighbours of his former club, who start next season in the First Division.

"The next step is to try to get into Glenn Hoddle's England squad and, with no disrespect to Bolton, being on a bigger stage like the one at Villa will help," Thompson said.

The Blackburn move was a piece of bizarre timing as they knew the bidding had started on Thompson a couple of weeks ago, but made no firm approach until it was too late.

Kenny Dalglish hopes to tie up Wayne Quinn as his latest Newcastle United signing in a pounds 2m deal over the weekend. The Sheffield United full-back or left winger, capped at England Under-21 and B level, visited Tyneside to discuss terms yesterday.

Liverpool have completed the pounds 2m transfer of the striker Sean Dundee from relegated German Bundesliga side Karlsruhe. The South African naturalised German signed two weeks ago, but Liverpool had been waiting for clearance before announcing his signature.

The Lens captain, Jean-Guy Wallemme, has signed a three-year contract with Coventry for an undisclosed fee. The 30-year-old central defender was with the French champions for 12 years.