Newcastle United manager Bobby Robson yesterday revealed a £5m obstacle to his bid to land Benfica's Pierre Van Hooijdonk.

Robson opened talks with the Portuguese club, who are willing to give the former Nottingham Forest striker a free transfer.

But the Newcastle boss decided to look elsewhere after discovering the tangled financial situation surrounding Hooijdonk.

Benfica still owe £5m to his former club Vitesse Arnhem and any team which signs him will inherit the debt.

Newcastle's interest in the Dutch international with a bad reputation following his time at Forest underlines Robson's desperation to bring in a new striker.

Robson said: "While Van Hooijdonk is a quality player, he has a poor character and helped to get Dave Bassett the sack at Forest.

"But I have tried for him and, if I'd signed him, I would have got the best out of him."

Robson, without Carl Cort and aware than injury-troubled Alan Shearer may be forced to miss games over the holiday period, has inquired about 25 players in recent weeks.

He admitted: "We have gone through a lot of names, made a lot of telephone calls and talked to a lot of people to try and get the right man in.

"We have a serious number of long-term absentees in crucial positions and bringing in replacements is not easy because of the restrictions on our transfer budget at the moment, linked to the current uncertainty over the future of the transfer system.

"We have been trying to bring in players on loan, but we have to get the right players for a club of this stature."

l It is almost impossible to overestimate the importance of Patrick Vieira to Arsenal and yet again the controversial midfielder made a significant mark on the title race.

For despite having launched a virtual all-out siege on the Tottenham goal in an absorbing north London derby that ended 1-1, Arsenal were denied time after countless time by the superb reflexes of keeper Neil Sullivan.

The Scottish international looked to have held them at bay following Sergei Rebrov's controversial first-half strike, in which it seemed as though two teammates were offside.

But then, where Thierry Henry, Kanu, Dennis Bergkamp and Sylvain Wiltord had all failed, Vieira struck on his return to the side after a hamstring injury - with just a minute of normal time left.

The French international was not risked from the kick-off for such a tempestuous and highly-charged game, but after coming off the bench as a substitute, he rose unchallenged to head home a corner.

Vieira may have his legion of disciplinary problems but he is the heartbeat of this Arsenal side and they often struggle without him to drive them forward.

Just over two weeks ago, he had also similarly headed a winner against Southampton and this was his fourth goal of the season.

And so Arsenal were redeemed, just like their Premiership chances after it had initially seemed that the door that had reopened in the title race had been slammed shut again.

Rebrov may have struggled to live up to his £11m summer price-tag but it seemed as if he had found the perfect way of endearing himself to the fans with his 31st-minute strike his first for two months.

That was until Vieira's late intervention, yet a draw however hard-earned still left the Gunners five points behind United following Liverpool's weekend victory at Old Trafford.

l Aston Villa's England goalkeeper David James has done a U-turn and withdrawn the transfer request he handed in to the Midlands club last week.

But James will not be putting pen to paper on the new three-and-a-half year contract offer on the table in the foreseeable future.

And the former Liverpool player has hit out at Villa for leaking his request to go on the list the day before Saturday's home clash with Manchester City.

He believes that contributed to the hostile atmosphere in the ground which was directed chiefly by supporters at Villa chairman Doug Ellis.

Now James, who has two-and-a-half years to run of his current deal, is calling on all factions of the club to unite and push for a Champions League spot.