Another masked crusader?Early Monday morning news coming through on the last day of the transfer window, that Newcastle are close to signing Coventry City’s Leon Best. Sky Sports are reporting that the Republic of Ireland striker may be on his way to Tyneside with Chris Coleman unlikely to sign a new deal in the summer when his contract runs out.
The smogs were after Best early doors in the transfer window but SSN are suggesting that he will join us on a three-and-a-half year contract, should he pass his medical today. Having failed with the capture of Jermaine Beckford from Leeds and Victor Moses from Crystal Palace, Hughton looks to have turned his attentions to the next best thing available. Marlon Harewood would have been the obvious choice but for his untimely injury.
Twenty three year old Leon Best has had a fairly unspectacular career so far, starting off at Southamption but spending most of his time on loan, at QPR, Sheff Wed, Bournemouth and Yeovil respectively, before moving on to Coventry City in 2007. Almost three years later, he has 22 goals to his name in 102 appearances, while having represented his country four times. (more…)
Wearside bound?It looks like suitors, Newcastle and Everton, may have been pipped to the signing of Matt Kilgallon. Some horrible rumours abound that Toon target, Kilgallon, is about to sign for Sunderland and printed speculation can be found in The Journal. Luke Edwards is reporting that a £2m offer has been accepted by the Blades, and suggests the deal will go through, and the mackems will make an announcement on his signing today.
Having been on our radar since the summer, the defender decided to stay put when all the signs were that he was keen to come to Tyneside. The reasoning was that he was keen to stay with Sheffield United and gain promotion and look at his options in the summer. The more cynical view was that he was running down his contract, to get a better signing on fee, and that we was waiting to sign for Everton.
It looks like both of those opinions are redundant now, because Edwards seems fairly confident that the deal is going to go ahead, although other sources suggest a fee of £1.75m. It remains to be seen whether Bruce pulls off the deal or not and there are no quotes from either clubs, the player or the player’s agent. But if the announcement does come today, then we haven’t got much time to wait. (more…)
Bottle half full?Following on from the theme of the hour, I thought I’d spread the joy a little and reiterate the news in The Journal that Chris Hughton is apparently relatively happy with what he’s currently got at Newcastle. Considering the concerns of fans about our strength-in-depth, that might come as a worry.
Particularly when all the noises over the last few months have been about not panicking in into getting loan deals and signing players for the sake of it. And Hughton himself said it was about working to a plan for the January transfer window, so we had probably all hoped that the plans were in place, but it seems like there is a bit of backtracking.
Speaking about the January transfer window, he had this to say:
“I would like to have the same numbers for the second half of the season,”
“But where we are at the moment, I am very very happy with the squad. I do not feel I need to add an awful lot.”(more…)
Beckford: Hitman on hold, apparently.Interesting news from the Daily Mirror today reports that Chris Hughton’s most wanted, Jermaine Beckford, is to put a proposed £2 million move to Newcastle United on hold until after Leeds United’s FA Cup match against Manchester United. The less than reliable newspaper also mentions that a deal is not far from being concluded for one of the hottest propeties outside of the Premier League, but the player wants to test his skills against the Red Devils before he moves on.
That’s fair enough, but if the report is true then I would hope whoever is negotiating the deal from our end won’t sign on that dotted line until we’re sure he hasn’t picked up any post-match injuries. Given some of our past transfer dealings, then that’s quite a valid concern!
There is also the chance of bring Marlon Harewood back on an extension of his loan. The main stumbling block could be the £250,000 loan fee that Aston Villa want from us. Bear in mind however, that Harewood is out of contract at the end of the season so for that £250,000 we would effectively get a player who has scored 1 goal every 3 games during his time with us and has Premier League experience. Hughton said about Harewood’s possible return:
“I’ve spoken to all the necessary parties, and we’ve got to look at the options we’ve got, weigh them up, and make decisions on the back of that.”(more…)
Is Fab fab?Farid Belkacemi, agent of Newcastle United’s ex PSG out of contract signing prospect, Fabrice Pancrate, has been giving the full blather about his client’s potential move to Tyneside. Pancrate’s had a three day trial with the Magpies last week, and is said (by Belkacemi) to be returning on Monday. As is usual with agents who have players out of contract (Pancrate was released by Paris Saint Germain on the 11th August this year), Belkacemi’s waffle was all ridiculously ‘over the top’.
Belkacemi gushed:
“Fabrice loves Newcastle,” adding:
“Many clubs in France want him because he is free. Nantes, Strasbourg . . . they offered him a big contract just yesterday but he says: ‘I prefer Newcastle’.
“The French don’t understand why. They say: ‘But Newcastle are not in the Premier League!’ But Fabrice loves the professional environment, the town and the mentality of the supporters.
“Of course, he is ambitious, and Newcastle is the only team in the Championship he would play for [he’s already been on trial at Sheffield United – wt], because he believes they will soon be back in the Premier League. He told me: ‘I am a black man, but in my blood, I am black and white!’
“So we fly back to Newcastle on Monday night and we hope we can sign next week. He is 200 per cent for Newcastle.” (more…)
