Pardew: “We’ve made contact with a few clubs about the availability of players”
Posted on May 4th, 2011 | 17 Comments |
Alan Pardew has confirmed that the club has made ‘several approaches’ to other clubs to begin recruiting players for next season, although none of these approaches are said to be in an advanced stage yet.
When asked if the club had begun sounding out potential transfer targets Pardew said:
“Yes we have. We’ve made contact with a few clubs about the availability of players, I think that’s important.”
Pardew refused to be specific on names but rumour (and The Journal) suggests that Lorient striker Kevin Gameiro, France Under-21 left-back Cheikh M’Bengue, Hamburg-based Ivory Coast left-back Guy Demel, Cardiff’s Jay Bothroyd and Reading’s Shane Long are amongst those on Pardew’s wish list.
Speculation also suggests the club are after a midfielder to step into Tiote’s shoes when he’s away at the Africa Nations Cup next season and a right back to provide competition for Danny Simpson.
Take the names with a pinch of salt though because none of them have come from any quotes by club officials as far as I can see. I tend to think journalists have noticed who Graham Carr and the scouting network have been watching and extrapolated names from that.
In terms of the number of players he wants and the amount of money he’ll spend, Alan Pardew isn’t sure yet. He said:
“I haven’t put a figure on it yet because it depends on the re-negotiations of players we have.
“Joey, Enrique and Nolan are still outstanding and maybe others I won’t mention are there that we still need to secure.
“There’s a lot to be done, but the process has started, I can assure you of that.
“We’re looking, Graham Carr and the scouting team are looking, we’re very much on the ball.”
Press opinion suggests that the club may yet consider taking Stephen Ireland but only if Villa significantly cut their original £8m asking price, which makes sense given that all we’ve seen of the player between injuries is two substitutions.
On the off chance that Kevin Gameiro may indeed be a Toon target, here’s a brief video of some of his on-pitch exploits:
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
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“I haven’t put a figure on it yet because it depends on the re-negotiations of players we have.
“Joey, Enrique and Nolan are still outstanding and maybe others I won’t mention are there that we still need to secure.
“There’s a lot to be done, but the process has started, I can assure you of that.
Fine but we can’t afford to let these negotiatons drag on. They really must be finallised before the break to allow for replacemets and their integration with the club during it.
The alternative is to plough ahead with buying those who could either provide back up for or replace the likes of Nolan, Barton, Enrigue and any others that may be tempted to leave.
Dream on!