Football: Gullit waiting on pounds 4.5m Jansen

NEWCASTLE UNITED have made a final offer of pounds 4.5m for Matt Jansen, Crystal Palace's England Under-21 striker. Ruud Gullit, the Magpies' manager, wants a swift response from Palace and is not prepared to enter an auction for the player, who could still attract late bids from Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United.

Because of Duncan Ferguson's injury, Gullit wants to sign Jansen quickly and put him straight into his team. Any delay would see Newcastle's interest cool.

Jansen, meanwhile, is said to be unhappy with reports that he had asked to be left out of the Palace team that lost at Bolton on Sunday because he had been unsettled by transfer speculation. One of Jansen's advisers insisted yesterday that the player had been told by Palace that he would not play at Bolton because a transfer deal was in the pipeline.

Arnar Gunnlaugsson, whose differences with his club appeared to have been forgotten when he was selected for Sunday's match against Palace, shocked Bolton yesterday by submitting a transfer request. He is unhappy at the club's failure to give him a new contract and refusal to consider selling him after interest from Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.

Bolton may have a ready-made replacement in Bo Hansen, a Dane who has been on trial at the Reebok Stadium. His club, Brondby, hope to complete the sale of the 26-year-old striker this week for over pounds 1m.

Nick Barmby may leave Everton. The striker was upset at losing his place to John Oster at the weekend. He could be a target for Derby County, who would probably have to pay pounds 2.5m. Walter Smith, the Everton manager, may consider selling Barmby because he wants money to buy Celtic's Simon Donnelly. He is free in the summer, but Everton need him now.

Juninho, who has been linked with a move to Aston Villa, was again left out of Atletico Madrid's starting line-up on Sunday. The Atletico coach, Arrigo Sacchi, insists that Juninho is not for sale, but speculation is mounting in Spain that the Brazilian midfielder may soon be on his way.

Bryan Richardson, the Coventry City chairman, says he is determined to keep Darren Huckerby at the club. Richardson said he valued the striker at pounds 10m.

Sheffield Wednesday are giving trials to Benfica's Hugo Porfirio, who made 27 appearances for West Ham two seasons ago, and the Swedish striker, Alexander Ostlund.

Swindon's Darren Bullock, Gillingham's Andy Hessenthaler and Hartlepool's Graeme Lee have been given two-match suspensions after being booked 11 times this season.

Robbie Keane, Wolves' leading scorer, will miss six matches in April because he is required to play for the Republic of Ireland in the World Under-20 Championships in Nigeria. Lucas Radebe of Leeds and Mark Fish of Bolton have been called up by South Africa for the African Nations' Cup qualifier in Mauritius on 23 January.