Football Clark signs Campbell and Bart- Williams

Football

RUPERT METCALF

The job of stepping into the goalscoring shoes of Stan Collymore will go to the out-of-contract Arsenal striker, Kevin Campbell, who signed for Nottingham Forest yesterday.

Also moving to the City Ground is Chris Bart-Williams, the England Under- 21 midfielder whose contract at Sheffield Wednesday has expired too. The fees for both players will be decided by transfer tribunals as Frank Clark, the Forest manager who this week sanctioned Collymore's pounds 8.5m move to Liverpool, was unable to agree deals with the selling clubs. Yesterday's business is unlikely to be the end of Clark's summer spending spree, as he prepares to lead Forest into the Uefa Cup as well as mount a championship challenge.

"I'll have to wait and see what money is available after we have paid out for the two lads, but I would anticipate being able to strengthen the squad further," Clark said. "It's a great boost for us to get what I consider to be two very talented, young, English-born players.

Leeds United's latest transfer target is more exotic: Parma's Colombian World Cup striker, Faustino Asprilla. "We have been interested in Asprilla for some time," the Leeds manager, Howard Wilkinson, said. The 25-year- old player, who is likely to cost about pounds 3m, has also been linked with Newcastle United.

Alan Ball looks likely to take charge at Manchester City, after Southampton gave the Maine Road club permission to approach their manager. Francis Lee, the City chairman, is determined to land his former England colleague.

"Bally and I go back a long way, and I have always fancied working with him," Lee said. "This will be the first time he has been given a big club with a lot of good players and the resources to build a good team."

City will be asked to pay compensation for Ball, who recently signed a three-year extension to his contract at The Dell. One player who is unlikely to be at Maine Road to greet Ball, if he does leave Southampton, is the German midfielder Maurizio Gaudino, who is due to move back to Eintracht Frankfurt next week.

The Association is to discuss the idea of a mid-winter break at its annual meeting in Bournemouth today. The England coach, Terry Venables, is among those who back the idea of shutting down for a month in January/February to avoid the worst of the winter weather.

However, most clubs are against the plan, which would produce cash-flow problems and would extend the season deep into the summer months. Graham Kelly, the FA chief executive, will be asked to examine the ways other European countries implement the system, and report back to the FA Council.

Kelly will also provide an update on the FA's search for a technical director - the post temporarily occupied by Don Howe. Gerard Houllier, the former French national coach, is among the favourites.