CAMEROON striker Joseph-Desire Job is set to join Middlesbrough in a £3m move from French side Lens.

Job, also a target for Italians Udinese, is due to link up with Boro next week and sign a four or five-year contract.

Boro's interest in the 22-year-old front-runner was first revealed in EchoSPORT nearly two months ago.

The Teessiders watched Job and strike partner Pascal Nouma in action for Lens last season.

French-born Job scored nine goals in 32 appearances. He struck four times in seven UEFA Cup outings, including a hat-trick against Kaiserslautern, and was also on target in his one Champions' League appearance.

But he was edged out of the Cameroon side in the African Nations Cup by the partnership of Patrick Mboma and Samuel Eto'o.

Job burst on to the French football scene at 19 when he hit 13 goals in 14 games for former club Lyon.

With dual nationality, he was picked for France at Under-21 level.

But Cameroon wanted him for the 1998 African Nations Cup and World Cup finals.

Lens teammate Alex Nyarko, who interested Sunderland, is also being linked with a move to Teesside.

Ghanaian international midfielder Nyarko, 26, is attracting the attention of Aston Villa, Manchester City and Fulham and is valued at £4.3m.

Boro striker Hamilton Ricard was linked with a move to Lens, but manager Bryan Robson has dismissed talk of any swap deals involving the Colombian international and insisted he is staying at the Riverside Stadium.

The arrival of Job would make it a French connection for Boro following the signing this week of Euro 2000 midfielder Christian Karembeu from Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, reports suggest Boro are considering buying-out the final year of midfielder Paul Gascoigne's contract, at a cost of around £1.5m, and handing him a free transfer.

l FORMER Boro striker Mikkel Beck is quitting Derby County for French side Lille.

The Dane, who has had loan spells at Nottingham Forest, QPR and Aalborg, said: "It's not by chance that I'm going to a French club.

"France have won the World Cup and now the European Championship, so it's the right time to go there. The country is booming football-wise.''

l Former Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal has been appointed successor to Frank Rijkaard as Dutch national coach.

Van Gaal quit his job at the Nou Camp at the end of last season, when Barca failed to retain their Primera Liga title, and takes over from Rijkaard who stepped down following Holland's semi-final exit from Euro 2000. The Dutch kick off their World Cup 2002 qualifying campaign at home to the Republic of Ireland on September 2, and have been placed in Group 2 along with Andorra, Cyprus, Portugal, Ireland and Estonia.

l Motherwell manager Billy Davies admits he can't wait for Greg Strong to rejoin the squad after he impressed so much last season.

The former Bolton centre-half joined the club on loan last year and Davies was desperate to keep him.

Now the Fir Park side have tied him up to a long-term deal and Strong is expected to join the rest of the team for training today.