Football: Arsenal snap up Francis the Fox

Arsene Wenger last night unveiled Francis Jeffers as the £8million penalty area predator Arsenal have lacked since the departure of Ian Wright.

Wenger responded to Thierry Henry's plea for a 'fox in the box' by landing the 20-year-old Everton striker on a five-year deal.

The Arsenal boss said: 'Francis has the qualities we have missed in the team. He can score goals in the box, he is mobile and I want to develop him as a team player.

'He is obsessed with scoring goals and we haven't had a player that. As soon as I knew Francis was available I wanted him here.

'English players are used to the hardness of the Premiership. Francis knows what it means to go to Southampton or Newcastle and fight.

'He scored seven goals in the first nine games last season before he was injured and five of them were away.'

Jeffers, who scored 20 goals in 60 games since his debut at 16 quit his boyhood club after two years of fallouts with boss Walter Smith.

He had previously rejected an Everton offer of £8m over five years and turned down Newcastle for Highbury. He said: 'If I can follow in Ian Wright's footsteps, I'll be an instant hero. As soon as I knew Arsenal wanted me, they were the club I wanted to join.'

Jeffers, who missed most of last season with an ankle injury and then a dislocated shoulder, passed a medical before signing. He is the first experienced English player Wenger has signed in his four-and-a-half years, although the Frenchman maintained: 'Maybe I will surprise you with some more. I looked at his quality, not his passport.'

Wenger hinted that Jeffers' arrival would spell the end for Kanu, Sylvain Wiltord or Dennis Bergkamp. 'We have five strikers; you need four at the top level,' he said.

The move allows Everton to pursue Anderlecht striker Tomasz Radzinski, also interesting Newcastle.