Football: Wimbledon sign pounds 1.75m Kennedy from Liverpool

ONE of the largest deals on transfer deadline day saw Liverpool's Republic of Ireland forward Mark Kennedy leave Anfield for a fee of pounds 1.75m. His destination was not Queen's Park Rangers, where he recently spent a successful loan spell, but Wimbledon.

Having lost out on Kennedy, QPR had better luck with another Liverpool reserve: Neil Ruddock. "I'm over the moon to come to Rangers," said the rugged centre-back, who has moved to Loftus Road on loan for the rest of the season.

Aston Villa's Serbian midfielder Sasa Curcic has finally completed his on-off pounds 1m move to the Premiership strugglers Crystal Palace. The 26-year- old has signed a three-year contract at Selhurst Park. Palace's player- coach, Attilio Lombardo, said: "Sasa is a quality attacking midfielder and becomes a key member of our squad in our fight against relegation."

Coventry have signed the midfielder Philippe Clement from the Belgian club Genk in a deal worth pounds 625,000. The 23-year-old will not join the Sky Blues until the summer, but their manager, Gordon Strachan, said: "I have never seen anyone so excited about signing for the club."

Leaving Coventry is the former England forward John Salako, who has joined Bolton until the end of the season after a trial at the Dutch club, Feyenoord, did not work out.

Manchester City have signed the Bermudan striker Shaun Goater from Bristol City for pounds 400,000 while a former City winger, Peter Beagrie, has returned to another of his previous clubs, Everton, on loan from Bradford City.

Wolverhampton Wanderers won the race for Leicester's Steve Claridge, paying pounds 350,000 for the veteran striker. Charlton Athletic have signed the Bradford City defender Eddie Youds for pounds 550,000.

Away from the transfer market, pay-per-view football moved a step closer to reality yesterday when the Premier League instructed a working party to look at proposals from Sky Television. "Sky have a set of proposals on the table but no pay-per-view can be introduced without the agreement of the Premier League clubs," Mike Lee, a Premier League spokesman, said. "Pay-per-view has always been a part of our broadcasting agreement."