Psycho signs on

Pearce, 43, had previously made light of the situation saying that "I'm not a lover of bits of paper, contracts do not mean a lot to me".

"I said to the chairman from day one, 'if I get sacked by you, I don't want any money - give it to the next manager to drive the club on'.

"If Manchester City no longer want me to manage their football club, I don't want to wrangle with the chief executive over a couple of quid here and a couple of quid there."

Pearce had been linked with a role in the post-Sven England setup and City chairman John Wardle has moved swiftly to secure the former England player to the club.

Arsenal will be boosted by the successful return of Sol Campbell and Robin van Persie in a behind closed doors friendly with Brighton on Tuesday.

The pair had been out since February 1st, Campbell with injury and personal problems and Van Persie with a broken toe.

Less good for Arsene Wenger however is the news that Freddie Ljungberg will be out for around two weeks with a niggling calf injury.

Charlton Athletic chairman Richard Murray has backed manager Alan Curbishley despite his being linked with the soon-to-be-vacant England job.

"We think our fans will understand why we allowed the Football Association to speak to Alan," said Murray.

"It is the England job, the best coaching job in the country. Any ambitious manager would be interested.

"We do not want him to go, but if the job is offered to him, and he wants to take it, we will not stand in his way."

Curbishley himself is embarassed at the revelations that he met the head of the FA's selection committee, Brian Barwick, but has expressed his continued interest in working with England.

"It has not put me off one bit. I want the England job.

"I did momentarily wonder what it might be like if I lost three games in a row as England manager."

Spurs are interested in Marseille attacking midfielder Samir Nasri after missing out on Frank Ribery... The FA are counting on FIFA to extend World Cup squads deadline past current May 15 date... Chelsea are linked with another move for Arsenal left-back Ashley Cole in the summer, only this time it will be done "by the book"... The Blues have another target lined up, this time a multi-million pound move for Corinthians' Argentina international forward Carlos Tevéz...

Villa fall to sword of Samaras