7th June 2005
Index:
Arsenal
Aston
Villa
Birmingham
City
Blackburn
Rovers
Bolton
Wanderers
Charlton
Athletic
Chelsea
Crystal
Palace
Everton
Fulham
Liverpool
Manchester
City
Manchester
United
Middlesbrough
Norwich
City
Portsmouth
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
Europe
Conclusion?
So Graeme Souness wants to bring in players who have Premiership experience
or who can perform in the League, then? Well lets take a look at our
Premiership rivals and see who is available, who could be available
and who we could potentially attract.
Buying from Portsmouth?
Under Harry Redknapp and Jim Smith, whenever you thought of Portsmouth,
you thought, hey, they have a canny team, but looking at them now,
not one individual stands out - none that would be of particular interest
to Newcastle, anyway. Those that did, namely Aiyegbeni Yakubu
and Amdy Faye, have both left.
Faye of course was snapped up by Graeme Souness in the January transfer
window for £2m while Nigerian Yakubu has joined Middlesbrough
for £7.5m (if reports are to be believed).
United remember, were hotly tipped to buy the striker once the season
ended having made enquiries during the January transfer window, with
Souness claiming that the club were talking to Pompey about both Faye
and their star striker when we first went in for the Senegalese midfielder.
"We are talking to Portsmouth about both players", the Scot
said.
At the time, many Toon fans would have been happy with the capture
of Yakubu but I was far from convinced and I'm quite glad we didn't
chase up our initial interest in the player and that he'll now be
playing at the Riverside and not St. James' Park next season.
For the price that Boro have paid, we can do much better I feel and
although he's a fine player in his own right with many attributes
needed to lead the line, pace and power being his main assets, he
blows hot and cold too much for my liking and isn't the best player
to have up front on away days, going missing his specialty it seems.
No, the Smoggies are welcome to him.
One Pompey player I'd like to see more of is Diomansy Kamara
who looks an exciting player but overall, I'd hope Souness is done
with shopping at Fratton Park.
Next up, a look at who is available, who could be available and who
we could potentially attract from Southampton.
Write In... Who would you like Newcastle to sign
in the Summer? Write in with your suggestions, reasons for your choices
and what these players would bring to the squad and we will publish
your thoughts on these very pages. Send in your suggestions using
the below e-mail form:
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