Fowler agrees terms for £7.5m move to City

Manchester City have agreed personal terms with Leeds United's England striker Robbie Fowler and his £7.5m transfer should be completed today. The 27-year-old, who scored 14 goals in 32 games for Leeds, has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal with City and should make his debut in Saturday's visit to Newcastle United.

Leeds are hoping to use the money to sign the Argentinian defender Gabriel Milito, but may have their move ruined by a major illness in the player's family. The Leeds manager Terry Venables had talks with Milito's agents yesterday about a £5m move to Elland Road, with the money paid to his club Independiente in installments to work within his budget.

However, Milito may opt to stay in his homeland because his father is seriously ill and he could decide to be close to his family for the next few months.

Venables is also chasing the Brazilian midfielder Kleberson and the Birmingham City winger Stan Lazaridis. Kleberson's value depends on which agent is quoting the fee. The cheapest is around £3.5m, which paid over three or four years is a bargain for the World Cup winner while Leeds have tabled a £1m offer for Lazaridis, the Australian international left-winger who had some of his best days under Venables in the international team.

Fowler's move could precipitate a bid for the City striker Shaun Goater from Bolton, who in turn have been trying to move their forward Michael Ricketts on to Tottenham. Bolton rejected what was supposedly an improved Spurs offer of £2.5m for Ricketts last night, which amounted to £1m in cash plus the versatile Gary Doherty, who Spurs rate at £1.5m. Bolton would be left with virtually nothing from the swap deal as it is proposed. They have to give Ricketts' old club Walsall a percentage of the deal.

The Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe has replaced his Leeds counterpart Peter Ridsdale's as one of the Premier League's four representatives on the Football Association's executive board.

Lowe joins Arsenal's David Dein, Blackburn's Robert Coar and the Premier League chairman Dave Richards in the influential role following Ridsdale's decision earlier this season to step down to concentrate on Leeds.

Ashley Cole has received a two-match ban for swearing at referee Paul Durkin following Arsenal's defeat at Southampton in November, where team-mate Sol Campbell was sent off

The two-match ban comes into effect immediately, meaning Cole is ruled out of Sunday's Premiership game against West Ham at Highbury. He also misses Arsenal's FA Cup fourth-round tie against Farnborough.

The Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini will not have to serve a suspension following his red card against Middlesbrough. An FA disciplinary hearing judged the sending off to be punishment enough.

Everton have received confirmation from the FA that Wayne Rooney will not be selected by England for the World Under-20 Championship in March. The Merseyside club, who have appointed former Rangers and Scotland striker Ally McCoist as a part-time coach for their strikers, feared being deprived of the teenager's services for nearly a month.

The Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed insisted yesterday that Craven Cottage had not been sold off. "The ground still belongs to us and will remain so," he said in a statement responding to reports that it had been sold to a finance and development company.

"We are still exploring a number of options," Al Fayed added, "including looking at the possibility of re-developing Craven Cottage in a simpler, more affordable way."