Faye set to join Cole at new-look Fulham

Fulham will switch their attention to Portsmouth's Amdy Faye after finally clinching a deal for striker Andy Cole.

The Senegal midfielder is set to become Chris Coleman's second major signing of the week following Portsmouth's decision not to meet his latest wage demands.

Faye has now been given permission to talk to Fulham who made a £3million bid last week. The move will be sealed if the 27-year-old can agree personal terms.

"We're not quite there with Amdy, there are one or two stumbling blocks which I'm not prepared to discuss. Everyone knows I'm interested in him, I just need to iron a few things out," said Coleman.

Cole is one step ahead having already agreed a two-year deal with Fulham and will start training with his new club tomorrow.

Coleman says Cole has a point to prove after problems at Blackburn.

The former England striker fell out with Rovers manager Graeme Souness over a team trip to Spain last season and was allowed to leave with a year left on his Ewood Park contract.

The transfer fee was undisclosed but there was speculation that 32-year-old Cole, signed by Blackburn three years ago for £ 7.5million from Manchester United, was allowed to leave on a free.

He and Souness were supposed to have made-up towards the end of last season but their relationship remained frosty after Cole complained to the PFA that he was victimisedin a series of spats. Coleman-said: "I think Andy's got a point to prove and he's still eager. Behind Alan Shearer he's the Premiership's highest goalscorer. It didn't work out for him at Blackburn for various reasons but that's nothing to do with us. We're very pleased he's a Fulham player and we're looking forward to working with him.

"His pedigree speaks for itself. He had a medical Saturday and everything was fine. He joins us for training tomorrow. At least with Andy we now have a bit more quality. We've also got Brian McBride and Collins John up front, while Elvis Hammond is looking sharp, so we have a bit more strength in depth in that department.

"Hopefully there will be one or two more signings to come before the transfer window closes."

Coleman also said he had monitored the movements of former Celtic striker Henrik Larsson in a bid to fill the void left by Louis Saha's departure for Manchester United last January. "It was common knowledge that he wasn't going to stay at Celtic," said Coleman. "We had no contact with him because he was still under contract but we talked about it."

Larsson eventually joined Barcelona after Euro 2004.

Fulham lost 2-0 to Celtic in a preseason friendly in front of 17,429 fans at Craven Cottage yesterday. John Hartson and Neil Lennon scored for the Scottish champions and Coleman's men lost Facundo Sava with a knee injury.

The Argentinian striker, who was forced off 14 minutes from time, is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks.

The Parkhead players and coaching staff will fly out tomorrow for four matches in North America - but without the Northern Irishman.

O'Neill, who was at Craven Cottage, will not be in the dugout for their matches against Chelsea and Liverpool because of the ill-health of his wife Geraldine.

The couple and their two daughters Aisling and Alana at Buckingham Palace last week to collect his OBE and said: "Due to family reasons I won't be on the first part of the American tour but there is a good possibility that I will be able to join the team for the second part in the East Coast."