With Anthony Gerrard now signed and Craig Pead about to on his return from holiday on Monday, the rebuilding process now will turn its attention to Andrew Surman and Julian Joachim.

Surman’s position should start to become clear as soon as Harry Redknapp gets his squad reshaping exercise underway seriously, but news on Joachim had gone quiet.

A Bradford City fan site has reported that Colin Todd has a strong interest in bringing Joachim to the Yorkshire club, with him being a favoured target, along with former favourite Danny Cadamarteri.

It is unlikely that this should present any serious opposition to Merson’s hopes of signing Joachim, as Walsall would still probably be his preferred option.

The link to the site is http://www.boyfrombrazil.co.uk/news.asp?date=20050513