Crouch interest? Madness (geddit?)Newcastle United were allegedly interested in Peter Crouch, although that interest is said to have diminished following the £9m price tag placed on the player by Spurs.
Newcastle have allegedly ‘approached’ Spurs about the prospect of signing Crouch but I’d very much like to see some sort of quote to back that up, otherwise I simply don’t believe it.
All that Pardew has said from the States is:
“We are waiting on two decisions and that will determined where we go next and what we do.
“We are waiting for those to come in. We are still pursuing one or two players.”
Sorry, but Crouch is 30, on a decent wage and Spurs are asking £9m for him. It’s just not the profile for the sort of player Ashley seems to like to recruit, even if we knocked a couple of million off Spurs’ estimate of the player’s value. (more…)
Swapsies?Rumours abound that Wigan may be interested in Newcastle United winger Wayne Routledge. Could some sort of swap involving N’Zogbia be in the offing?
The Sun is rumouring that Wigan might be preparing a £2.5m bid for Wayne Routledge to replace Charles’ N’Zogbia if he leaves the club as expected. N’Zogbia has in fact not gone to Austria for pre-season yodelling practise along with the rest of the Wigan squad, thus creating some sort of expectation that his transfer out of Wigan is perhaps close.
Apparently a £9m bid for N’Zogbia by Villa was rejected by Wigan recently.
Maybe Ashley will quote a ‘special price’ of £5m for Routledge for non-Champions League contenders, rather like Wigan allegedly did for us when we first showed some interest in The Zog!
Rumours tend to snowball, so of course this particular one has resurrected our interest in N’Zogbia and plays to the idea of some sort of swap deal being arranged.
Personally I think that, even if we took £2.5m off the N’Zogbia’s price and gave Routledge to Wigan instead, it might still be seen as too expensive for another midfielder given that, presumably, some money will need to be kept back for a striker of some sort. I suppose there’s always the possibility that Ben Arfa could be used as a striker and another midfielder could be recruited in his place, although I tend to think we want to recruit an out-and-out striker as a priority. (more…)
Deal down but not out?Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has not yet given up on the prospect of signing Mevlüt Erdinç despite the player’s apparent preference to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
There may be some downtime in the transfer market while Newcastle tour the US, but speculation that the club haven’t yet given up their hopes of signing Mevlüt Erdinç continues. According to the press, anyway.
A little while back, Erdinç stated that his preference is to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after being given assurances that he won’t be completely sidelined but the incoming transfers of players like Kevin Gameiro and – potentially – Mauro Zarate.
In fact, Erdinç played for PSG on Wednesday in their pre-season match against Brighton, although he was used to plug a gap on the right wing after Guillaume Hoarau and Kevin Gameiro were give the two front positions. It’s possible that things like that might force Erdinç to reconsider a move to Newcastle where he would most likely be the first choice striker. (more…)
Pardew speakethNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew does not expect much in the way of transfer activity while the squad is away in the United States for its pre-season friendlies.
Any transfer expectations we Toon fans have can be put on hold for a few weeks until the squad returns from its US tour and we get into the first week of August. Pardew said:
“I think that a lot of business will happen but not just yet.
“There are a lot of teams away at the moment on tour like ourselves. And I don’t think anything will happen while we are away.
“Like at every club, there are things going on behind the scenes. I think, though, that the first week in August may see a bit of a flurry in transfer activity.
“There are also some players that will be moved on and that will also affect things.” (more…)
Man kicks football - whatever next?Newcastle United latest: Liverpool allegedly closing in on Enrique, Swansea City make improved bit for Wayne Routledge, the US tour gets underway tomorrow at Sporting Kansas City and the FA are awaiting reports about the pitch invasion at Darlington.
The whole Jose Enrique situation is beginning to grind on me at the moment, so I’ll be brief.
According to press reports, Liverpool are ‘closing in’ with an £11.5m deal for the player, which – if true – must be a very recent move by Dalglish’s mob because just a few days ago Alan Pardew said this in relation to the Enrique situation:
“We have had no concrete offers.”
I’ll be disappointed if he does go to Liverpool after all his crowing about wanting Champions League football although, if he’s clearly not going to sign a contract for us, I’ll be glad to see the back of him so that we can recruit a replacement left-back well before the new season gets under way. (more…)
