WE were delighted to conclude the eleventh-hour deal to make Fabio Rochemback our latest Brazilian signing, especially as our initial enquiries for the player had been met with a polite but firm "no chance", reveals KEITH LAMB.

The deal dragged on longer than we would have hoped because of some unusual circumstances, but we eventually got our man just an hour before the transfer deadline.

I originally flew out to Portugal to discuss with Sporting Lisbon officials the possibility of us signing both Rochemback and Rudolph Douala. At the time, we had been led to believe that both players were registered with Sporting.

I told them of our intention to make an offer for both. They made it absolutely clear that, while they were prepared to listen to offers on Douala, Rochemback was not for sale at any price.

I respected that. I told them we did not want to cause them any disruption or trouble and that we would take our interest in Rochemback no further.

In the meantime, we continued to negotiate for the transfer of Douala. Having eventually reached an agreement with Sporting, I made certain contractual proposals to Douala through his representatives. Unfortunately, he chose to stay with Sporting. Whether we try to resurrect that deal in the future is a subject I will leave to Steve McClaren.

Whilst all of that was going on we discovered that Rochemback was, in fact, only on loan at Sporting from Barcelona. This was something that Sporting, perhaps naturally, hadn't told us as they were obviously keen to hang onto him until his contract ran out next summer, when he would have become a free agent.

I made some enquiries with Barcelona, who confirmed that they would consider an offer for the player, though any deal would have to be done in a way that was acceptable to Sporting Lisbon.

Once we felt confident of being able to agree terms not only with both clubs but with Rochemback, too, we then made moves to secure a work permit for the player. Aided by our ProZone representative, John Coulson, Steve McClaren and I made a presentation to a work permit appeals committee, who were acting on behalf of the Department of Employment.

To gain a work permit, players without a European Union passport must usually have played a high percentage of their country's competitive internationals over the previous two years. With that in mind, we knew Rochemback wouldn't qualify automatically for a work permit, although he was in the process of gaining Spanish citizenship.

So we successfully appealed for a permit ahead of concluding the deal. If we hadn't done that first, it is highly unlikely we would have been able to complete his signing before the deadline.

Having then negotiated an acceptable deal with both clubs, I flew to Barcelona direct from Monte Carlo, having attended the UEFA Cup draw that brought us together with Xanthi.

There, on the Saturday morning, I met Rochemback's agents, and was quite quickly able to reach a skeleton of a deal for his transfer.

Although I was on holiday in the United States the following week, Steve McClaren and club secretary Karen Nelson were able to conclude the paperwork with Fabio and his representatives with just an hour to spare before the transfer deadline.