SAINTS' bid to bring Leeds United centre-back David Wetherall to The Dell has fallen through.

Dell boss Dave Jones confirmed this morning that the 28-year-old would not be making the move south for personal reasons.

Wetherall's wife is heavily pregnant and was not keen on a move to Southampton from her native Yorkshire.

But although Jones was disappointed to lose his man he has left the door open if Wetherall has a change of mind.

"We would still like him to come but I quite understand how he feels. His wife is pregnant and has had a few problems and he wants to make sure she is right. You can't knock him for that," said Jones.

"The lad was keen to come and if he has second thoughts the door is still open but he has now gone back to Leeds."

Saints had agreed a club record £2m transfer fee and personal terms with Wetherall in a five-year deal.

Jones added: "It was not personal terms was the problem, it was a geographical problem and it is one we get with quite a few players from up north."

And chairman Rupert Lowe added: "It is not money, it is a human situation. We would not want it to go through unless the player and his wife were happy."

Saints' other target - a £1.4m move for Bulgarian midfielder Milan Petkov - is also in danger of collapse over the CSKA Sofia star's eligibility for a work permit.

Petkov is thought to have played in only 55 per cent of interna-tionals in the past two years instead of the required 75 per cent.

Lowe added: "We found it hard enough last season to get a permit for Marian Pahars who had played in 90 per cent of the games so we don't want to put ourselves in a contractual noose unless we can be sure of getting a permit. But we do have other things on the go and we are working hard to try and bring them to fruition."

Jones watched two games in Norway over the weekend and was encouraged by what he saw. He is weighing up a bid for a midfielder but has other options to consider.

He has been linked with Independiente striker Mario Cuerdo who was spotted by Chief European scout Terry Cooper playing for Argentina in the recent Toulon tournament.

Cooper has also checked out 23-year-old Tenerife centre-back Sergio Martinez Ballesteros and Jones is also eyeing up Luton defender Chris Wilmott.

Jones said: "They are just two of many players we have had watched and we are interested in a couple of Argentinian youngsters if they have dual nationality. But they would be ones for the future, not for now."

The Saints boss denied any interest in Chelsea midfielder Eddie Newton but confirmed he might be tempted by Arsenal's transfer-listed starlet Stephen Hughes - if the price were right.

He said: "Of course I would be interested in a player of his quality if we could afford him. But I would imagine he would be out of our price range and that a lot of clubs will come in for him."

Saints midfielder David Howells has again been touted as a possible candidate to become player-manager of Bristol City at Ashton Gate where he went on loan at the end of last season, but Lowe said: "We have heard nothing from them."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.