Lee Bowyer, for so long the unacceptable face of Leeds United, is expected to bring his occasionally brilliant, yet frequently distasteful, six-year spell at Elland Road to a close in the next 24 hours when he moves to West Ham, the Premiership's bottom club.

Bowyer was in London for talks yesterday with the club he supported as a boy and, providing there are not hitches of the type that wrecked his move to Liverpool last summer, he will take a routine medical examination today before signing a £30,000-a-week contract, albeit with a get-out clause should West Ham be relegated.

Leeds will receive an undisclosed fee, although given that the £10 million-rated midfielder would be available on a Bosman free transfer at the end of the season it is thought to be only a fraction of his true value, possibly £200,000.

However, the club have made sure they have a legally binding agreement with Bowyer that he repays the £850,000 in legal fees he still owes them following his two court cases.

Olivier Dacourt is expected to follow Bowyer out of Leeds today when he finalises a loan to Roma with a view to a £7 million move.

Ridsdale flew to Italy yesterday, saying: "Talks are ongoing, but I fully expect the deal to be negotiated in the next 24 hours."

Birmingham's manager Steve Bruce has lined up a double signing that will end Michael Duberry's troubled spell at Leeds and take the Tottenham midfielder Stephen Clemence to St Andrews.

The Duberry deal would see the Australia winger Stan Lazaridis moving to Leeds with Birmingham also paying £500,000.

Alex Ferguson is confident of finalising a deal for Sunderland's David Bellion by the end of the week and has made a personal request to the Nottingham Forest manager Paul Hart to be kept informed about the availability of Michael Dawson, the outstanding young centre half who has also attracted interest from Liverpool and Leeds.

Manchester United will have talks with Sunderland today in an attempt to reach a compromise on a fee for Bellion, a 20-year-old whom Ferguson believes will give his wingers serious competition.

Sunderland want £3 million for the Frenchman although Peter Kenyon, United's chief executive, has floated the figure of £1.5 million.

Roy Keane will learn next week whether he is to face legal action from Alf Inge Haaland.

Manchester City's chairman David Bernstein said last night that the club are close to making a decision after five months of determining whether they have a case.

Manchester United's captain tackled the Norwegian in April 2001 and later admitted he had deliberately set out to injure him.

Manchester City have agreed a fee of around £4 million with Barcelona for the Holland defender Michael Reiziger.

The clubs have been negotiating for some time and Reiziger is expected to travel to Manchester in the next week to discuss terms.

Blackburn Rovers have offered Aston Villa £2 million for the Turkey defender Alpay Ozalan, but have been told to come back with an increased offer.

Alpay, who cost Villa £5.5 million in July 2000, has been on the transfer list since August.

Villa are expected to write off the Croatian striker Bosko Balaban, who has been loaned back to Dinamo Zagreb, the club that sold him for £6 million at the start of last season.

Brian McBride has been granted a work permit, allowing him to join Everton on a three-month loan. The United States international striker agreed to the move at the start of the month, but had to wait for permission from the Home Office, which has now been granted.

Egypt defender Ibrahim Said agreed a move to Goodison Park on the same day as McBride, and Everton hope he will be granted a work permit within the next 24 hours.

Celtic have expressed interest in Basle playmaker Hakan Yakin. The 25-year-old was part of the Swiss side which denied the Parkhead club a place in the lucrative Champions League group stages in August.

But his performances in those games and then against Liverpool and Manchester United have persuaded manager Martin O'Neill to make inquiries.

Yakin is rated at £3 million, although a clause in his contract would allow him to leave Basle for half that price in the summer.

Maltese side Marsaxlokk are attempting an audacious bid to sign former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne.

The Premier League side have announced Gascoigne is to fly out to Malta today to discuss a move to the Mediterranean island.

"If he arrives in the morning, he could even attend a first training session in the afternoon," club vice-president Hermann Schiavone said.

It is believed Gascoigne will be offered a monthly wage of around £12,500 plus an apartment in the exclusive resort of St Julian's.