Everton's Don Hutchison will today complete a £2.5m move to Sunderland.

Wearside boss Peter Reid persuaded the Scottish international to sign during talks at the Stadium of Light last night - then Hutchison had to convince his London-born wife it was the right decision.

She wanted him to opt for a move to the south east with Charlton, but Hutchison had set his heart on a return to his native North-East and had the last word.

Hutchison's agent Rachel Anderson said: "A player's career is very short and you have to go where the opportunities are and do what is best for you."

Reid first tried to sign the 29-year-old former Hartlepool midfielder in March, but refused to meet the asking price of £3.5m.

The two clubs finally agreed the reduced fee earlier this week after Hutchison had talks with Charlton boss Alan Curbishley and looked set to go to The Valley.

The arrival of Hutchison - a Newcastle United fan, who moved to Liverpool from Victoria Park after then Pool chairman Garry Gibson touted his young prodigy around via video - will ease the worries of Sunderland fans over Reid's failure to recruit anyone after saying he hoped to sign "four or five quality players" during the summer.

"We have a few irons in the fire," said Reid's No 2 Bobby Saxton yesterday.

But Saxton insisted: "We won't shell out every penny in the club and leave it destitute.

"We are looking to bring in players who are better than the ones that finished seventh in the league. It's not easy because they are not ten-a-penny. We will only sign players who we feel are right for the club."

Saxton is now involved in pre-season training for the 38th year in a row as a player, coach or manager, but said: "I'm as keen as ever. I'm looking forward to the season with optimism - as I've always done.

"We can't dwell on what happened last season, just as we couldn't dwell on the season we were relegated from the Premiership.

"Of course we had a great season, but that's history now. It's a nice part of Sunderland's history, but we have to move on and think about the future.

"It doesn't guarantee us anything this season, although it does create huge expectations. When you achieve a certain status, you put yourself up there to be shot at.

"Manchester United are expected to win the Premiership. It won't be easy because of the challenge from Arsenal and Chelsea, but they're still expected to do it

"We are also expected to do the business at our level. We've done well, but now we need to do even better and keep improving. We need to be more consistent and not just play up to Christmas.

"The fans will demand it and I'm not saying that's wrong. It's positive thinking. We will go out and do our best. It's a challenge and we're looking forward to it.

l JOHN Collins is set to complete his move to Fulham after another busy day of transfer negotiations at Everton.

Collins has been cleared to open formal contract talks with Fulham after the Cottagers and Everton agreed an undisclosed fee for the Scottish international.

The two clubs finally reached agreement on a price after nearly two weeks of haggling.

Everton rejected Fulham's initial offer of £1m and have moved closer to the Blues' £3m valuation.

Collins will now travel down to Craven Cottage for contract talks with the First Division club.

The 32-year-old midfielder, who cost Everton £2.5m from Monaco two years ago, will take up a player-coaching role with Fulham.

Heading in the opposite direction into Goodison Park is Ghanaian international Alex Nyarko and he arrived yesterday for further talks over his £4.5m move from Lens.

Nyarko and his advisers have been discussing personal terms with Everton officials.