Barca interest may be unfoundedBarcelona may not be after Newcastle United left-back Jose Enrique and Mevlüt Erdinç snubs Newcastle transfer.
It seems that recent rumours about Barcelona’s interest in Jose Enrique may be unfounded. Enrique’s representative (and brother) Salvador Sanchez said this about any alleged links between his brother and a move to the Nou Camp:
“We know nothing, only what has appeared in the press.”
Barcelona are known to want to strengthen their left side and, after recent attempts to sign José Ángel from Sporting Gijón fell through, it was thought they might turn their attentions to Enrique. However, it seems that Valencia’s Jordi Alba is actually their preferred target.
Some sites are saying that Barcelona have actually come out and said “We will not be trying to sign Enrique” but after a thorough search of the Spanish press for statements from Barcelona I can’t find any evidence of this. That’s not to say it isn’t true of course – my failure to find it might just be due to my incompetence with both the Spanish language and Google. (more…)
Too expensive maybe?Allegedly Daniel Sturridge is not on Pardew’s shopping list of players he’d like to bring to St James’ Park and Mevlüt Erdinç may be on his way to Lille.
Speculation and a hell of a lot of wishful thinking from fans has had us linked with the possible transfer of Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge for a while now.
But whilst Alan Pardew sees it as a priority to recruit another striker, it seems that Sturridge won’t be that man. Lee Ryder (ahem) in The Chronicle reports that a Newcastle ‘source’ has said:
“The manager is looking into other players, so it is unlikely Sturridge will be coming to Newcastle.”
As per usual, said ‘source’ could be anybody. Or indeed nobody.
The 21 year-old striker has 23 goals for 85 appearances in his career and an impressive 8 in 12 whilst he was on loan to Bolton Wanderers last season. (more…)
Are we interested?Newcastle United continue pursuing Mevlüt Erdinç with a £6.94m bid and the Mackems are allegedly about the ‘pip’ us to Shane Long.
According to the French press, our current bid for Mevlüt Erdinç stands at €7.75m (£6.94m) but it is reported that Rennes has now also entered the race to sign the French-born Turkish striker. Rennes have been on the lookout for a striker since Moussa Sow left for Lille last year.
The French press says that the €11m PSG are asking for Erdinç is likely to price Rennes out of things, but they might be able to match the €7.75m we’ve asked and provide Erdinç with an option to remain in Ligue 1.
Galatasaray and Lille are also said to be interested in the player although, from what I can gather, those clubs are less likely destinations for Erdinç.
Given how much more careful the French press seems to be than ours about separating conjecture from fact, I’m inclined to believe that we have indeed bid £6.94m for the player and are most certainly in hot pursuit of him. (more…)
Alleged £6.5m bidNewcastle United allegedly bid £6.5m for Mevlüt Erdinç after having a £5m bid turned down.
Erdinç is one player we know for certain Newcastle have an interest in because Alan Pardew has admitted it. The Star, based on what they’ve gathered from ‘French sources’, has now come out and said that we are ‘closing in’ on the Paris Saint-Germain striker with a £6.5m bid.
I had a bit of a mooch around the French press – as I do most days – but I couldn’t find anything from this weekend about Newcastle’s interest in Erdinç.
Nevertheless, I do think we are most likely pursuing Erdinç and have a decent chance of getting his signature. PSG have previously said they want £8m for Erdinç, which is what they paid for him, and the recent investment of Qatari money into the club means they probably could hang onto him despite having brought in Kevin Gameiro (who, presumably, will be higher up the pecking order). (more…)
Matuidi and Erdinç - realistic targets?Newcastle United allegedly maintain a strong interest in Saint-Etienne’s Blaise Matuidi and Paris Saint-Germain’s Mevlüt Erdinç.
According to ‘France Football’ (as well as our very own Chronicle) the French revolution is far from over at Newcastle.
Apparently we are still pursuing a legendary ‘double swoop’ for Blaise Matuidi and Mevlüt Erdinç. I have reported our supposed interest in both these players a few times on this ‘blog and the rumours seem to be gaining momentum rather than going away.
Matuidi won’t come cheap though. Saint-Etienne President Roland Romeyer has previously said:
“We will not discuss anything below €15m for Blaise Matuidi.”
That’s £13.4m that Ashley will have to fork out if he wants to bag the 24 year-old.
As a defensive midfielder, presumably the plan would be to play him alongside Tiote, maybe in a standard 4-4-2 or possibly in a 4-2-3-1 formation. (more…)
