Bruce, who wants to pair the England striker with Mikael Forssell next season, wants a speedy answer from Leeds, who have brought in an agent to sell Smith and his big-earning team-mates.
Bruce thinks his offer, which includes further installments of almost £1m, will persuade Leeds to sell. Obviously Bolton want it to be sorted out as soon as possible and hopefully that will happen in the next few days.”Earlier, Bolton had reacted cautiously to reports that the player had accepted financial terms A spokesman said: “Rivaldo has not signed anything We are not aware that he has agreed terms as yet.”. The Birmingham City manager, Steve Bruce, has made a club record £7m bid for the Leeds United striker, Alan Smith. He added: “I’ve heard stories about other clubs but as far as I’m concerned that’s not true He just wants to discuss it at home. I have no influence on him over this, and we just do what he wants to do.”Allardyce had said on Saturday that he believed he would secure a deal with Rivaldo – who is a free agent after leaving Milan in December – by Monday. The Premier League have confirmed that, despite Rivaldo’s current unattached status, transfer window rules would make him ineligible to play in the Premiership until the start of next season.And Harrison went on to reject suggestions that interest from rival clubs was the reason for the delay.

The player met officials in Manchester and was known to be impressed with the deal offered to him.And while Bolton fans might be desperate to see Rivaldo join their other ambitious signings such as Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha, there is no rush. He is just making sure of his decision and everything is looking positive at the moment.”Rivaldo’s Brazilian agent also confirmed that the player had not changed his mind over a switch to the Reebok Stadium. Carlos Arini said: “If he hasn’t said no yet, it’s because he is seriously considering the offer These kind of decisions are only for him to make. But Rivaldo’s English agent Peter Harrison insisted he remained “positive” it would go ahead as planned and that he would be a Bolton player “within the next few days”.Harrison said: “Bolton have made him an offer and if he decides to play for Bolton those are the terms he will accept It is not about money.

Ramprakash then joined Newman and had made 34 before Sales took another catch, this time off the bowling of paceman Steffan Jones.Sussex, who began their defence of the Championship title with a frustrating rain-affected draw away to Surrey, were forced to twiddle their thumbs again as the first day of their match against Worcestershire at New Road was washed out. Newman and his fellow opener, Jon Batty, showed commendable concentration to put on 93 before the captain (28) was caught by David Sales off Johan Louw. Scott Newman defied miserable conditions to make an unbeaten 90 and ensure that Surrey made a strong start to their County Championship match against Northamptonshire at The Oval yesterday. I hipe to continue to ride for him when possible in the future. The man is a genius.”The decision meant that McCoy’s last winning ride as Pipe’s retained jockey came in the 3.40 at Exeter yesterday, the Diamond Edge Novices’ Chase, with Lucifer Bleu winning by 19 lengths.