ROMANIAN WANTS RAMS SWITCH

By Adam Marshall

STANDARD LIEGE'S Tibor Selymes has urged Derby County boss Jim Smith to follow up his initial interest in bringing him to Pride Park.

The 31-year-old Romanian left-sided player is keen to have a crack at life in The Premiership or Italy, after also being linked with a move to Bari.

"I want to leave Standard as soon as possible," he admitted. "Playing in Italy or England would be an excellent way to prove that I am not finished.

"The atmosphere in English football is really exciting and the fans are terrific.

"It would be an honour to play in The Premiership. My agent has told me of the interest, but now I have to wait for them to call me for talks."

Smith is believed to have other options in the transfer market and his priority is tying up his protracted move for Lazio's Fabrizio Ravanelli.

'The White Feather' arrived in the East Midlands for talks on Monday and is expected to put pen-to-paper soon with The Rams.

One man who has already signed on the dotted line is young defender Paul Boertien.

The 22-year-old finalised a three-year extension to his current deal, committing his future to Pride Park until 2005.

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