Football: Dalglish snaps up Hamilton for pounds 2.5m

Kenny Dalglish, the Newcastle United manager, is spending pounds 2.5m on the 20-year-old Bradford City player, Des Hamilton. The right-sided wing back is Dalglish's first major signing for the Tynesiders.

Dalglish, who saw off a rival bid by Middlesbrough, has spent all of the club's current transfer funds on the prospect. Hamilton will be sacrificed by the First Division outfit despite their precarious position in relegation zone, as the offer proved too enticing.

Hamilton has been out of the Bradford team with an injury for a month, but he should be available to play within a week. His agent was finalising terms on Tyneside yesterday, but there should be no last-minute problems to block the deadline-day transfer. The Bradford manager, Chris Kamara, is trying to spend his money quickly - he is setting up deals for Jan Jansson, a Swedish midfielder, and the Notts County right-back, Chris Wilder.

Leeds United have signed the highly-rated winger Pierre Laurent from Bastia, the French First Division side, for pounds 250,000. The 24-year-old had been tipped for a pounds 2m move to Paris St-Germain in the summer, when his contract expires. He has signed a four-year contract at Elland Road. Leeds have also enquired about Derek Lilley, the St Mirren striker.

Everton plan to complete the signing of two Norwegians, Tore Andre Flo and Claus Eftevaag, in a pounds 3m deal today. Joe Royle, the Goodison manager, agreed an improved offer with SK Brann of Bergen for the pair, and they are expected in Merseyside this morning to settle personal terms.

The arrival of Flo, a striker, will raise questions about Duncan Ferguson's long-term future at Goodison Park, although the Scot is unlikely to be sold before the end of the season.

Royle's move for Eftevaag is more of a surprise. The right-sided defender can play at full-back or centre-half but has a bad back. He had to limp out of Brann's European Cup-Winners' Cup defeat by Liverpool last week when his coach described him as "an old man".

Manchester City's Steve Lomas has turned down a pounds 2.5m transfer to West Ham - and a five year contract worth around pounds 1.5m. The Northern Ireland midfielder rejected the move to Upton Park after talks with the West Ham chief executive, Peter Storey, and flew off instead to join Bryan Hamilton's World Cup squad.

Lomas is prepared to wait until his contract at City runs out in 15 months' time, when he can leave on a free transfer. It is the second major move that Lomas has rejected this season. He also turned down a move to Wimbledon at the start of the campaign. His City team-mate, the winger Peter Beagrie, is wanted by Burnley on loan for the rest of the season.

Mart Poom, the Estonian international goalkeeper, was given another chance to make it in English football when Derby County signed him for pounds 500,000 from Flora Tallinn. The 6ft 4in 25-year-old was one of three signings by manager Jim Smith, who also completed the capture of the Costa Rican pair Paulo Wanchope and Mauricio Solis in a joint pounds 1.2m deal from CS Herediano.

Smith, who signed Poom when he was in charge of Portsmouth, said: "I asked the Scotland goalkeeping coach, Alan Hodgkinson, to have a look at him when they played Estonia in Monaco and his advice was to sign him straight away."

Sunderland have signed the former England goalkeeper Chris Woods until the end of the season. Woods played for Southampton earlier in the campaign but broke a leg after a four-month loan spell, playing only six matches. Sunderland have picked up the registration of the 37-year-old from the US Soccer Federation to provide cover for Lionel Perez.

Southampton expect to sign the former Liverpool midfielder, Mike Marsh, from Southend today. Graeme Souness, the Saints' manager, signed Marsh for Galatasaray when he was in charge of the Turkish club. Southend's former Celtic defender, Mark McNally, is having talks with Stoke City.

Arsenal have denied they are planning to buy the Senegal-born French international striker, Ibrahim Ba, from Bordeaux. The French newspaper l'Equipe claimed the London club was ready to pay about pounds 4m for Ba, but an Arsenal spokeswoman dismissed the report as "paper speculation".

Gerry Sweeney has declared his interest in succeeding Joe Jordan as Bristol City's manager. After leading the club to a 2-1 win at Crewe on Tuesday, the 51-year-old caretaker manager said: "If I was offered the job, I would be happy to take it on."

Fifa, football's world governing body, confirmed yesterday that it was extending the Bosman ruling on free transfers. The decision means out- of-contract players from anywhere in the world will enjoy the same freedom of movement as their counterparts from the European Union and the European Economic Area.