Blackburn manager Graeme Souness claims he will not walk out on Rovers if they are forced to sell Damien Duff. It had been reported that Souness was stalling on signing a new contract until he received assurances from the Ewood Park board that neither Duff nor England under-21 star David Dunn would be sold.

Souness claims he would never make such demands and that he will sit down with the board to discuss his future when he returns for pre-season training next week.

"I've already spoken briefly to (chief executive) John Williams and the board before I came away on holiday and we've agreed to talk again when I get back for pre-season training," he said.

"But it's not my style to play games with people. I've got a good relationship with the board and I'm very happy at Blackburn, so I'm not going to hold a gun to anybody's head."

Meanwhile, Turkish defender Hakan Unsal could miss part of Rovers' pre-season programme after he had a minor knee operation yesterday.

Birmingham City have finally secured the services of Paris St Germain midfielder Aliou Cisse in a £4.5 million package. The club will splash out £1.5 million in transfer fees for the 26-year-old while Cisse's four-year contract is worth around £3 million.

He becomes City's second major capture of the summer after Welsh international midfielder Robbie Savage moved across the midlands from Leicester.

David Moyes has made his first signing for Everton by clinching the £5 million capture of Nigerian World Cup defender Joseph Yobo from Marseille, and he intends to make Derby goalkeeper Mart Poom his second. The deal for Yobo is a 12-month contract, with an option for a further four years.

Manchester United chief executive Peter Kenyon has been made vice-chairman of UEFA's new club forum, a body set up to give clubs a voice within European football's governing body.

Kenyon has been made first vice-chairman while Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the former West Germany international who is now Bayern Munich's chairman, was elected chairman.

Rangers' new chairman John McClelland has been elected a member of the forum's board.

Pascal Cygan, the defender signed from Lille for £2.1 million, is likely to be the only new face at Arsenal this summer after the club effectively imposed a financial freeze on Arsene Wenger.

Steve McClaren, the Middlesbrough manager, is looking at Udinese's 26-year-old midfielder Luis Helguera as a possible replacement for Paul Ince.