Redknapp lined up by Leicester

Leicester City are planning to bring in Harry Redknapp as their new manager ­ despite a split within the club about the timing of the appointment.

Redknapp has moved closer to being named as Leicester's manager and Peter Taylor's replacement after hush-hush talks with the Premiership's bottom club.

The former West Ham manager, who is currently Portsmouth's director of football, is willing to take on the post immediately and bring in a formidable backroom team. But the first Premiership managerial change of the season is being held up because some sections of the board want to give Taylor a last chance.

Chairman John Elsom, who is one of Taylor's main supporters, would like him to be in charge against Ipswich on Saturday, hoping that a result would save the manager's job. However the plc board wants action now after lining up Redknapp as the ready-made man to step in.

Taylor's fate may be in the balance, but with the camps arguing about their next move he could be given a reprieve and be in charge against Ipswich.

There is also a possible compromise if Taylor can get his old job back with England. He was manager for one game ­ against Italy ­ and also helped Sven Goran Eriksson start his revolution as a coach. However, he left the England set-up after being overlooked for posts and would now rely on Eriksson's goodwill for a way out of his Filbert Street crisis.

Eriksson is thinking about a full-time coach and Taylor could fit the bill, allowing him to leave Leicester with his reputation intact.

There is no chance of Taylor staying under Redknapp and reverting to a coaching job. Redknapp would bring in Frank Lampard, who left Upton Park with him, and there could even be a place for Dave Bassett in the backroom team.

The veteran French goalkeeper Bernard Lama flew in yesterday for talks with Sunderland about a three-month 'emergency' contract. Lama has agreed to help out Peter Reid in a crisis and knows he may only appear in a couple of games while Thomas Sorensen and Jurgen Macho are sidelined. Sorensen broke his nose while on international duty with Denmark, while Macho is struggling with a thigh injury.

Lama is a free agent after his contract ran out at Rennes, but the former member of France's World Cup winning squad has kept himself fit. He hopes to find a long-term deal with another club, putting himself in the shop window from the home game with Blackburn on Saturday.

Reid is also taking a look at Algerian midfield schemer Ali Benarbia as he tries to find a replacement for Don Hutchison. The experienced Benarbia ­ a free agent after quitting Paris St Germain ­ flew in last night at the start of a short trial with Reid. Benarbia, an old pal of Emmanuel Petit at Monaco, wants to come to England and could be offered a contract at the Stadium of Light.

The Manchester City manager, Kevin Keegan, is opening talks with French champions Nantes about signing striker Alioune Toure following his scoring debut. Toure scored the winner in a friendly against Oldham and Keegan now wants to find out Nantes's valuation on him. Keegan sees Toure as ideal competition for Paulo Wanchope and Shaun Goater and would be willing to pay about £800,000 for his services. Nantes were looking for more than £1m but are likely to compromise ­ and Toure should be a City player by the weekend.

Wimbledon have been thwarted in their attempts to sign the Arsenal defender Igor Stepanovs as a short-term solution to their injury crisis which has seen 10 players struck down already this season. The Wimbledon manager Terry Burton was keen to take the 25-year-old Latvian on loan but Stepanovs turned down a deal. Burton said: "We tried to get him on loan but he still thinks he has a chance of getting into Arsenal's first team."