Toon want it wrapped up before derbyNewcastle United have allegedly increased their bid for Erik Pieters and still have Nicklas Bendtner in their sights, and Derek Llambias confirms the need to add further players to the squad.
Good morning. The Toon headlines are still pretty much dominated by the Joey Barton/Gervinho ‘Slappergate’ incident, which is beginning to make my Earl Grey taste a little sour and putting Tarquin, my butler, off his stride with the brushing of my tweeds in preparation for the day’s hobnobbing.
The Daily Mail comes to the rescue though, with allegations that we’ve upped our bid to £7m for much-needed left-back Erik Pieters. Presumably the hope is that the extra readies will act as a financial kick up the backside to both the player and his club and expedite transfer proceedings towards some sort of agreement ahead of next weekend’s game against the unwashed.
The weekend’s People seemed to think we have other options for a left-back too and are tracking both Wayne Bridge and Aly Cissokho alongside Pieters. (more…)
Likely move, I'd sayErik Pieters is looking all the more likely to join Newcastle United after his recent comments but the hunt for a new striker is looking a bit glum just now.
It looks like PSV’s Erik Pieters is one step closer to becoming our new left-back as PSV boss Fred Rutten is almost conceding defeat in his attempts to keep the player at his club. Rutten said:
“I would lie in the road to stop him leaving but I fear I cannot block his transfer to Newcastle.
“He is a brilliant defender, but, if it is right for him and the club, I cannot say no.”
Many press reports are saying that a £6m deal is in its closing stages and, whilst we might be without a first choice left-back for today’s visit from Arsenal, we should have one in time for the derby game next weekend.
The situation regarding a new striker is less clear, but to be fair we’ve only needed one since January so it’s a 7 month rush job in terms of recruitment.
One of our targets, Eren Derdiyok, has slammed the door in our face saying:
“I did not realise they [Newcastle] were watching me, but it does not make any difference to how I feel about my future.(more…)
Square pegs...The most unexpected transfer of pre-season is finally close to conclusion, with Newcastle United’s Jose Enrique getting his wish granted to strut his stuff in the UEFA Champions League next season by joining Liverpool. Wait a second…Are Liverpool competing in Europe next season?
Anyway, Mr Pardew has given a rare interview with the ‘Chronicle’ in regards to Jose’s exit and potential replacement to the left-back position. He rambled:
“Jose showed no motivation to sign a new contract and when a player is in the last year of his contract it is a difficult situation when it comes to accepting a fee.
“A replacement is ongoing as we speak. We need to put in place our back-up plan now but I think it’s unfair to name names in public.”
Maybe I’m misinterpreting our Alan here, but “we need to put in place our back-up plan now” seems pretty obvious. I’d have thought we would already have a back-up plan done and dusted before we had agreed to let Enrique leave. I mean that’s just sensible, but we all know who’s calling the shots don’t we? In fairness, Enrique hasn’t exactly helped matters either by refusing to talk about his future with the board (allegedly).
I suppose our “back-up plan” was Neil Taylor a few months back, but Swansea ousted our attempts to lure him to St James’ Park and he decided to stay on at Swansea. (more…)
£8.5m? Sounds a bit high.Newcastle United allegedly consider a Swiss striker to fill the gap left by Andy Carroll while there are rumblings of interest by other clubs in Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez.
Well, Alan Pardew only has two and a bit days left if he wants to achieve his aim of signing a new striker before the Arsenal game. On which note the Daily Mail has us ‘interested in’ Bayer Leverkusen’s Eren Derdiyok.
They allege that Graham Carr has been watching the striker and that we’re now ‘considering’ a move for him.
The 6ft 3in, 23 year-old, Swiss striker started his senior career at BSC Old Boys where 10 goals in 18 games got him noticed by FC Basel. After moving to Basel he scored 27 goals in 80 games and thusly came to the attention of Bayer Leverkusen. They signed him in 2009 and he has scored 18 goals in 65 games for them, which is not what I’d call prolific. He has also played 33 games for Switzerland scoring 3 goals.
The English media had us ‘interested in’ him back in June 2008 but the rumours failed to materialise into anything back then and I have my doubts as to whether they will now either. Judging by the stats alone, it looks like he’s the sort of player who started out extremely well but has not quite managed to maintain the scoring level that originally got him noticed. (more…)
The new Enrique?Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has allegedly been to Holland to check up on a left-back and a striker.
This week could be a busy one when it comes to transfer speculation if Alan Pardew’s aims to bring in two players before the Arsenal game are realised.
Typically, it’s the Daily Mail who get things started with speculation firstly that Jose Enrique will be leaving for Liverpool in a £5.5m pound deal and that he will be replaced with PSV Eindhoven’s Erik Pieters.
I normally treat pretty much anything I read in The Mail with doubt – not to mention scorn – but they were correct with their early speculation about Obertan, so maybe they just have their fingers on the pulse when it comes to Toon transfers just now. (more…)
