Sam Allardyce today has distanced himself from two flair forwards who are available for transfer – Frenchman Ludovic Giuly and Turk Tuncay Sanli. Sanli is on a free transfer from Fenerbahce and Giuly is available from Barcelona for a ridiculously low price of ₤1.5M.
This will disappoint a lot of Newcastle fans.
Sam Allardyce
There have been reports in the papers that because Sam is interested in the two he will indeed look to play some attractive football next season – but Sam says the talk is coming from their agents. However, Allardyce has not denied outright that he is interested in either player – but these two will be snapped up quickly unless we make a move for them now.
Ludovic Giuli and Tuncay Sanli
But pragmatist Allardyce has already said that he is focusing this week on defenders. Two of these are David Rosehnal of PSG and Ben Haim of Bolton. Rosehnal is not now the shoe-in we once thought – with Borussia Dortmund back in for him.
Here’s what Sam said to the Journal last night:
“We have shown an interest in David Rozenhal, but that is about as far as it has gone at this stage.
“A transfer isn’t imminent or anything like that. There has been some contact but it hasn’t gone any further than that.
“The problem is, it’s very difficult to keep things quiet when you are speaking to agents.
“Everyone knows that we are on the look-out for players and, unfortunately, that means we are going to be linked with a lot of names this summer,”
“But, as far as I am concerned, the stories linking us with Tuncay Sanli and Ludovic Giuly are agent talk.
“My main priority at the moment is signing defensive players and that is where we are looking to strengthen. ”
We want to get that department right before we start looking at other areas.”
Allardyce’s also wants Israeli Tal Ben Haim, – who is available on a free transfer and is getting married this coming Saturday. It now looks like after the marriage Allardyce will attempt to secure the player.
Sam went on:
“My main priority at the moment is signing defensive players and that is where we are looking to strengthen. We want to get that department right before we start looking at other areas.”
“We are very interested in Ben Haim, but he is getting ready for his wedding next weekend,”
“It is something I will be chasing up this week.”
This Ben Haim transfer saga is certainly dragging on – as we thought Sam would try to tie this one up before Ben Haim’s marriage – but guess not..
Comments always welcome.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 Phil // Jun 13, 2007 at 9:33 AM
I think Sam needs to get defenders in next before anything else. People might complain about not going for these to but i can assure you there would be far greater murrmerings of discontent if he signs 4 non-defenders before any defender comes in.
If he manages to one ot two defenders in this week then they could be worth persuing but he is right in saying he is prioritising defenders first as he has already acted quickly on two attacking players.
2 Jam // Jun 13, 2007 at 9:42 AM
For such a low price though, i would have no qualms in getting these players. It certainly isn’t as though we will be short of funds in the future to pay wages. I think that if we miss giuly and Sanli then we have really “missed out!!!!” Its not often these sorts of players are available for such a low price. But if we were not to get Rozenhal, that would be disastrous too.
3 Major Newcastle News Stories - June 13th 2007 - Karadeniz Coming? | Newcastle United Blog // Jun 13, 2007 at 9:52 AM
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4 Soren // Jun 13, 2007 at 4:30 PM
Guily might be too good a deal to turn down. £1.5m is not a lot of money for a class player as he is, and it wouldn’t bother me if he came before defenders like Ben Haim and Rozenhal. But that said we’d still have to get some defenders.
5 Ed Harrison // Jun 13, 2007 at 5:30 PM
Phil – to be fair to Sam that’s exactly what he’s saying – he wants to prioritize on looking at defenders this week. He seems very workmanlike.
6 Ed Harrison // Jun 13, 2007 at 5:33 PM
Soren – i’d like for Sam not to miss up on these “cheap” opportunities – but get those defenders in too – although it looks like Sam is not willing to overpay for players – even when he knows he has the money to spend from Shepherd – and then Ashley. Looks like Freddy’s brother Bruce is helping Sam a lot on the transfer front.
7 Lull // Jun 13, 2007 at 7:55 PM
Ed – Do you know whom are helping Big Sam on the transfer negotiations beside Bruce?
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