Anelka on verge of double move

French star Nicolas Anelka is set to sign for Juventus in the next two hours - but long term suitors SS Lazio will also be buying a share of the striker and will play him for two seasons in a unique transfer deal.

The 20 year old striker reached agreement with Juventus on a move yesterday but Lazio have been closely involved in a deal and have paid £11 million to match Juventus' interest in the French player. Anelka will move to Turin for two seasons from 2001 in a £22 million transfer that ends 152 days of speculation and rumour surrounding the player who has tried to leave Arsenal all summer after a £500,000 move from PSG in February 1997.

The deal has been agreed at top level by both the Italian giants after the pair teamed up to match the London club's valuation of the player who is now set to earn £15 million over the course of the four year deal.

Juve made a £15 million offer for Anelka in March to set up a prolonged transfer wrangle that involved themselves and Real Madrid before Lazio sold Christian Vieri at the start of June and emerged as the favourites to sign the French player. Anelka insisted on only moving to Lazio after the deal with Real collapsed. The player threatened unprecedented legal action to try and annul his contract with Arsenal which still had four years left to run but is due at La Formello tomorrow to be presented to the press as a Lazio player.

French national team captain Zinedine Zidane has spoken with Anelka to try and persuade him to move to Turin which has a strong French influence and is close to the border with their native country. His pleadings have finally worked as Zidane is one of the few players the tempremental star will listen to.

SS Lazio have already seen one such transfer fail this summer as they attempt to replace Vieri in their attack. Club president Sergio Cragnotti identified Anelka and Valencia's Argentine international Claudio Lopez as the players who would arrive in Rome to join the Lazio squad. His hopes of landing Lopez in an £18 million transfer collapsed when the player rejected the involvement of Atletico Madrid in a deal which would have seen the player stay in Spain for two seasons before moving to Lazio. Lopez instead opted to stay with Valencia rather than be transferred to two clubs in an arrangement which almost created transfer history. Now Anelka is set to agree a similar deal which could set a precedent with clubs teaming up to meet increasingly expensive transfer valuations.

After the end of the Lopez affair agents across Europe were looking at ways to get the best deal for themselves and their clients from the 'two club' arrangements and opinion is split on the viability of such transfers in future. One big problems for the Anelka deal is what happens when Juventus and SS Lazio meet in crucial matches which may well determine the destinations of championships and cups. UEFA is not keen on such deals but rich and high profile clubs can deal as they wish once a transfer value has been met with a selling club. Anelka's agents are not keen on the move involving Juventus but their client seems set to end his interminable transfer dealings of this year later today. Arsenal have set a noon deadline for completion of the deal.