Bridge forces Southampton's hand as Chelsea bid is accepted

Southampton have accepted an undisclosed offer for Wayne Bridge from Chelsea, after the England full-back handed in a transfer request.

"I regret to inform our supporters that we have today given Wayne Bridge permission to speak to Chelsea Football Club with a view to signing for them," the Southampton chairman, Rupert Lowe, said in a statement yesterday.

"Wayne has quickly achieved great footballing success in his time with our club and has served us well. He has, however, made it known to both [manager] Gordon Strachan and me that he believes a move to Chelsea to be a career progression and an opportunity he cannot turn down."

A report on Southampton's official website said the club had strongly resisted Chelsea's first two offers, believed to be £5m and £6m, but accepted the third after Bridge made it clear that he wanted to leave. "The exact fee has not been revealed but there has been widespread speculation that it is around £7m plus [the Chelsea full back] Graeme Le Saux," said the report.

Meanwhile, Chelsea are back in the hunt for the Italian striker Christian Vieiri after Internazionale approached them with an invitation to re-open the bidding at £20m. The deal stalled last week when new club owner Roman Abramovich's initial offer was met with a rejection and a £30m-plus price tag. However, contact has now been resumed, and Chelsea will try to agree a reduced price and speak to the player over the weekend.

Vieiri pledged his future to Inter last week when he was told he was "intransferable" but it is believed that Inter now regard the offer as good for a 30-year-old.

The news came as a major boost for Chelsea after bids for Damien Duff, Juan Sebastian Veron and Arsenal's Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry became bogged down. Duff is stalling over his move as he waits for a Manchester United counter bid. The move for Vieiri does not cut across a deal for Henry as Abramovich would like the pairing of power and finesse to lead his attack if possible.

Leeds United are concerned over the future of goalkeeper Paul Robinson, after the veteran Nigel Martyn turned down an approach from Chelsea.

Robinson had been earmarked for sale at around £3m by the Elland Road club before Martyn suddenly became a target for Abramovich. Now that Martyn wants to stay, Leeds are hoping to resurrect a deal with Aston Villa or even Arsenal for Robinson or even a late move by Arsenal.

Contact has been made with Villa about Robinson and their new manager, David O'Leary, may be interested as an alternative move for Sunderland's Thomas Sorensen is proving hard to finalise. The latter is seeking a pay-off from Sunderland and his personal terms are high, which means that Robinson is a viable alternative.

Robinson balked at Villa's offer when they met a few weeks ago, but that was mainly because of a pay structure within the Midlands club that stops them over-paying young players. If that rule is waived, however, then Robinson could be on his way to Villa Park.

Arsenal could be an option, but the Gunners only want to pay around £2m up front for a goalkeeper and are still looking at potential free transfer men to sign within a restrictive budget.

The former Chelsea defender Jody Morris, who was released by the club at the end of last season, has signed a two-year contract with Leeds.