Football: Horne moves to Everton

SOUTHAMPTON agreed to sell a key player yesterday - but the man leaving The Dell is Barry Horne, the captain of Wales, and not England's Alan Shearer.

Everton have signed the 30- year-old Horne, who joined the Saints from Portsmouth for pounds 750,000 three years ago. The fee will be decided by a transfer tribunal, with the Hampshire men hoping to break even on the deal. The Goodison club, whose pressing need is a target man, may make Leeds United's Lee Chapman their next transfer target.

Sheffield Wednesday are the latest club to show an interest in Shearer: they have offered pounds 2.5m plus Danny Wilson, the Northern Ireland midfielder, to Southampton, who rejected a pounds 3m bid by Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday.

Ian Branfoot, the Saints' manager, was distracted by disciplinary matters yesterday, when he learned that he will have to face a Football Association commission next month to explain Southampton's tally of five red and 80 yellow cards last season. Exeter, Lincoln and Darlington have also been ordered before the FA because of their misconduct records.

Stuart Ripley became Kenny Dalglish's most expensive signing for Blackburn yesterday, when the former England Under-21 forward completed his pounds 1.3m move from Middlesbrough. Duncan Shearer, the striker who cost Dalglish pounds 700,000 from Swindon in March, looks set to move from Ewood Park to Aberdeen for pounds 500,000; while Ripley's replacement at Ayresome Park could be Michael O'Neill, the Northern Ireland striker, whom Dundee United are prepared to sell for about pounds 750,000.

Harry Redknapp, who left Bournemouth last month after nine years as manager, returned to his old club, West Ham, yesterday as assistant manager to his former team-mate, Billy Bonds. Bobby Gould, the Coventry manager, also found a new No 2 yesterday: Phil Neal, the former Bolton manager.