Chelsea sign De Goey

Chelsea have signed the Dutch international goalkeeper Ed De Goey from Feyenoord for pounds 2.25m on a five-year contract. Ruud Gullit, the Chelsea manager, checked out his 30-year-old former Feyenoord team-mate in South Africa last week when the Netherlands won a friendly international 2-0.

"This is a dream move," said De Goey, who has won 29 international caps. "Several Dutch and Spanish clubs have shown an interest in me but when I knew Ruud wanted me there was only one club for me - Chelsea. The prospect of playing in England with a big club like Chelsea really excites me."

Brian Laudrup, the Danish international striker, has decided to stay at Rangers at least until the end of next season after two days of talks with his chairman, David Murray, at his summer home in Jersey.

Manchester United's attempt to sign the Bayern Munich defender Markus Babbel has not definitely failed. Babbel turned down United's first offer, but the player's Swiss lawyers told United yesterday that he will continue negotiations.

Terry Venables was cleared yesterday of any potential conflict of interest over the proposed transfers of three Australian internationals to his club, Portsmouth. Venables' future as coach of Australia seemed in doubt because of his apparent involvement in projected deals for former Leicester keeper Zeljko Kalac, midfielder Robert Enes and utility player Hamilton Thorp. The Soccer Australia chairman, David Hill, said Venables could not become directly involved in transfers.

Mark Bosnich, the Aston Villa goalkeeper, relieved his boredom in Australia's 13-0 World Cup qualifying victory over Solomon Islands by scoring the last goal from the penalty spot.