The Newcastle United recruitment team have been busy since January, and have already scouted a number of potential Newcastle targets.
Luis Fabiano - off to Real Madrid?
Dennis Wise, Vice-President Tony Jimenez and Chief Scout Jeff Vetere have all been busy looking at various players, most of them young.
They have run the rule over the following players:
Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano of Seville – a club with whom Jimenez is well connected. However, it is expected that Real Madrid could be first in the queue for the player.
Bafe Gomis
St Etienne striker Bafetimbi Gomis is also a target and we’ve covered the player many times on this site.
But Gomis’ transfer fee will have risen now that he has been preferred in the French squad to the 30-year-old Juventus striker David Trezeguet. The squad was named over the weekend for Euro 2008. The striker, who stands just under 6′3″ tall, is yet to be capped by France.
Sam Vokes
Dennis Wise is also keen on Bournemouth’s young Welsh Under-21 striker Sam Vokes, and would have already done a deal had not the south coast club gone into administration.
He has already played 53 times for the South Coast side and scored 16 goals. Sam has played 9 times for the Welsh Under-21 side, and scored 4 goals.
He is still available and may be one of the youngsters we bring in during the summer for the future, and 18 year-old Vokes has already said he’d just love to come to Tyneside. That’s good.
Comments very welcome.
56 responses so far ↓
1 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 13:46
I watched Vokes score for Bournemouth a few weeks ago. He looks promising. I also hope we get Gomis in - he looks like he could be the perfect long term replacement for Viduka.
2 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 13:52
From Sky Sports:
Shaun Wright-Phillips insists he will remain at Chelsea, despite being linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge.
The England international has struggled to establish himself under Avram Grant, making just three Premier League starts since January.
Wright-Phillips is likely to miss out on Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United with Florent Malouda, Joe Cole and Salomon Kalou all ahead of him in Grant’s pecking order.
The likes of Manchester City, Newcastle and Aston Villa are thought to be monitoring Wright-Phillips’ situation, but the 26-year-old says he has no plans to move on.
“I will definitely be at Chelsea next season,” said Wright-Phillips.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
3 Kash2 // May 19, 2008 at 13:54
Vokes yes, the other 2 NO! Gomis is far too much money for what he is supposed to be. And how come every report we read it says KK went to see him play but he had a bad game and will go and see him another time. As for Fabiano, I don’t like him, he’s too lightweight and a total idiot to boot!
4 ELFER // May 19, 2008 at 14:01
Get BAFETIMBI GOMIS, he’s now included into the full squad of france (not TREZEGUET!)…believe me, he will be the fantastic big striker up front!
Why VOKES? Another CARROL who will never get through?
5 Hadrian // May 19, 2008 at 14:03
kash ,
gomis is just out of nappys and has moved some world class strikers out of the france team .
fabiano is the spanish leagues leading goalscorer , and isn t lightweight .
honest your opinion in players is trash , thank god your opinion only stretches as far as this blog . or we’d miss out on some world class players
6 Tom_Toon // May 19, 2008 at 14:04
Vokes please.
Fabiano is a drunkard wife beatng tit and Gomis isnt worth 17 million, he is 8 max.
7 Gunnar/Iceland // May 19, 2008 at 14:12
for some reason I am extremely pessimistic about the summer transfer market. I cant se us getting any of those “hot properties”. Hope keegan can prove me wrong.
8 Fernando // May 19, 2008 at 14:15
The article ed read to write this article, also mentions scouts scouting the Metz vs someone game. who are they looking at?
9 Fernando // May 19, 2008 at 14:16
i just can’t wait for the euro to get started then there are the birtish irish lions and then Wimbledon. what else??
10 scottish mag // May 19, 2008 at 14:29
it was metz v le mans fernando
we would have been looking at le mans midfielder sessegnon
11 toonoholic // May 19, 2008 at 14:34
Hadrian , walcott was selected over some fine strikers too .
12 The Big Man // May 19, 2008 at 14:34
Hadrian,
The only reason Gomis (and, to be fair, Djibril Cisse just as much) are in the French squad is the immaturity of the trainer, Domenech, whose grudge against Trezeguet means he leaves him out. (Trezeguet has scored 20 goals in ‘A’ this season…) Similar to Sergio Garcia being preferred to Raul in the Spain squad… Gomis is good, but not great yet (stating the obvious, I know).
13 Davies // May 19, 2008 at 14:38
Gomis doesn’t want to come anyway. He wants to play in Serie A and considers a “bottom of the league” team.
Fabiano is a KNOB, but Vokes is a promising young man. He won’t cost that much either.
14 geordie nick // May 19, 2008 at 14:39
ye and walcott is class, wats ur point?
15 Leo // May 19, 2008 at 14:41
gomis yes- but not at 17mil vokes yes he seems like he wants to come and is young
fabiano has too much bad press and is an agressive player if you look on youtube on him im sure you will know what i mean
16 Eric // May 19, 2008 at 14:47
Yes, go and get Vokes. He is young and seems keen on us. The other two. Fabiano and Gomis are Roy of the Rovers players. But as stopgap David Trezuguet knocks the scabs off of Viduka and the pimples of of Smith.
17 Graeme // May 19, 2008 at 14:56
Viduka has, at best one more season in him and with the injury he has picked up, more like half a season. We should replace him as soon as possible.
A “PROPER” CF, in the Alan Shearer mould would be ideal. They dont grow on trees so will be an expensive signing, but thats never stopped KK in the past and it wont stop him now.
18 Marat18 // May 19, 2008 at 14:57
Vokes is the one for the future,
but the other two don’t impress me a lot.
I was more excited with Pandev or Gomez prospects.
19 Tom_Toon // May 19, 2008 at 14:58
Vokes is dubbed the new Alan Shearer.
20 lonely toon army // May 19, 2008 at 15:14
after weeks of rumors , we haven’t signed anybody. wise n jimenez, u guys are a disgrace. With big mike so tight in his a### I cant see us signing any big players in the summer. Its just so frustrating .
21 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 15:15
Gomis is a lot of money for a small squad like us to buy, he may well be an excellent player, he may be the next Drogba or whoever, but in reality he is a hell of a lot of money and has only had one good season, in fact his good season is the same as Djibril Cisse’s not so good season this year and he is £3-4m cheaper and has average 11 goals for the last 6 years.
Cisse is the proper central forward we need, strong and much faster than Shearer and good with his head too.
Another team is going to snap him up and we will be watching him on goal of the month wondering why we didnt buy him at £7.5m.
I would have bought Anelka in the Souness days, but we didnt, Andy Johnson straight from QPR but no we didnt, Mc Carthy when Blackburn bought him, I hope if we dont buy him I am wrong this time, but mark my words if West Ham, Spurs, Blackburn or Man City buy him we will be sorry. If no-one slides in and injures him he will be in the top 8 goalscorers in the premiership and top 10 for goals per minute on the pitch, he never fails to score anywhere he has been.
The bargain of the transfer window is going to pass us by.
22 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 15:31
Johnson never played for QPR, You mean Brum or Palace.
Yes to Vokes, reminds me of a young Chris Sutton (Norwich & Blackburn days)
No to Gomis overpriced.
Yes to Fabiano even with off the field problems
I remember another South American striker KK signed who was a total loon but a genius with the ball, 1 TINO ASPRILLA
Would rather Crouch at £15m than Gomis at £17m
23 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 15:44
Craigg you are right, wrong abreviation (word association) cheers Palace I meant!!-always do the same with West Ham and Villa too.
Crouch is over priced too, but better than Gomis but he is weaker than Cisse.
Kitson is cheap for an additional midfield player who scores, doesnt have to be first choice at £3m, but he has scored 9 goals in a much worse club.
I think we need to be careful that we get a player who adds more than the one they replace.
We have had this problem in the past with Parker, Emre, Smith, Duff, Boumsong, Bramble, Luque and so on. If we can add an average of two or three goals in each midfield position forward then it would make a massive difference, but look at Carroll in theory he should be amazing but he has been poor on loan and looks poor in the first, if we brought in three players who should cut it, but dont, we will be looking at relegation.
24 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 15:47
Crouch at £15m? Not for me CraigG. If we are going to invest a vast amount of cash in a single player I want him to be of proven quality. I like Gomis but I agree that £17m is way too much.
To be honest I’m a big, big fan of Dean Ashton. He would fit in perfectly as Viduka’s replacement in the long term. I think £9m would tempt West Ham to let him go.
More than anything we need a creative midfielder. It’s what we’ve been crying out for since Dyer left. If we are going to spend £15+ I’d want it to be spent in the middle of the park.
25 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 15:52
Id take Crouch or Gomis for £7m-£8m but not the ridiculous prices mentioned.
Cisse would be good and cheaper than Crouch, Gomis, Ashton, Fabiano and all the other strikers weve been linked with.
Yes, i again agree about Dave Kitson as well a very under rated player, Good target man and again much cheaper.
Vokes is a must he can be a star in the not too distant future.
26 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 15:55
I didnt mean pay that much for Crouch!
What i meant was Crouch at that price for a proven premiership and international goalscorer With a fine Champions league goal scoring record, Represents better value than a huge fee for a gamble on a player who hasnt played international or European football, Never played in England or doesnt have a great scoring record at club level.
27 KKK // May 19, 2008 at 15:58
Alot of guys today have been talking about Dave Kitson of Reading. At 28 i don’t think he really matches the criteria Keegan is looking for but what about Shane Long? At only 21 surely he would be a better long term prospect and we could probably gather him up for about the same price as Kitson.
28 Whitey // May 19, 2008 at 15:58
In some papaer they were saying that wise was at the Le mans vs metz match. I hope this is true because i think that metz have a great talent in Miralem Pjanic and i wud love to see him come
29 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 16:00
Oh! Sorry CraigG.
Annoying stat - Guiseppe Rossi has scored 11 goals in 22 starts for Villareal this season.
Why didn’t we give him a chance!?
30 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 16:05
Totally agree Heronmag im concerned about the lack of quality in our CMs Barton and Emre are quality but neither play near enough for very different reasons.
Butt is a good DM but at 32-33 we cannot rely on him for much longer.
Geremi inst good enough and Zog is better out wide.
We IMO need to splash our big money on a Miguel Veloso or a Nigel De Jong and not on Turan or Gomis.
We could as Ian pointed out get both Cisse and Kitson for £10m or under instead of a ridiculous price for Gomis.
We could get Lennon or Sebastian Larsson for much cheaper than Turan.
Also Both Richard Dunne and Nicky Shorey for about £8m.
31 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 16:08
We knew Rossi was good though didnt we heronmag???
Souness again.
Kitson is only £3m, he could be bought without interferring with the other big players needed in midfield and the front.
Kitson is a bargain, plus if the fancy foreigners turn in to Albert Luques again, or Owen gets injured he will keep us up, Kitson has been used at the front but he is mainly a midfield player isnt he?
Cisse at £7.5m is a steal then we can spend in the midfield.
If Viduka did leave then Ashton would be a good replacement, but Cisse first as he guarantees goals even from the bench.
32 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 16:11
On Rossi, I dont know why he wasnt used more, Maybe because Roeder thought he was too similar to Oba ??
Plus we werent allowed to use him in UEFA Cup again because Rudolph didnt want him to be cup tied for the Champions League for them.
33 Eric // May 19, 2008 at 16:14
It has crossed my mind. If we do not bring in some exciting young players, and fail to get in some quality additions to the first sqaud - what is the justification in having Wise and Jiminez?
What happened to the Peter Taylor story?
34 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 16:18
I also should have mentioned Arshavin when i was talking about CMs a minute ago the most realistic one out there for us at the moment .
I would like to know whats going on with the Peter Taylor and Alan Thompson appointments too, Both would be great for the Academy and eventually beneficial to the first team.
35 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 16:18
Definitely Ian. Every mag I know couldn’t understand why Rossi wasn’t given the chance he deserved.
Of well, we live and learn. Lets just hope that KK gives our best youngsters a chance!
36 Marat18 // May 19, 2008 at 16:22
Whitey
Miralem Pjanic is on his way to Lyon I reckon, I heard that this deal is done already.
37 Micky Toon // May 19, 2008 at 16:23
At last someone talking sense about Carroll. Just becuase he’s young doesn’t mean he’s any good. It seems that a lot of people on here seem to think young lad = best player in the world = sign him up and put him straight into the 1st team. Well, perhaps there are one or two players in the world like that, but none of them currently play for NUFC and the only one I’ve seen that could do that would be that young turkish fella we’re linked with. Even then I’d have my doubts.
38 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 16:31
Heronmag, I am not so sure he is at the moment, my two favourite youngsters are Lua Lua and Edgar, I think Edgar may have won his place at least on the bench, but i do not understand Lua Lua not being used more especially because we were weak in that area.
Carroll I would sell and hope Fabio makes it in to the first next year, or year after.
Trouble with Cisse is, he has had bother with the fans, they booed him at the start of the season then raved about him later on, all of them want him to stay now, but he doesnt know if he can forgive them for that, if we approach him, we need to make it look like he is our number one choice as it seems as if it is more about him being happy and wanted rather than bigger clubs and money, if we go for someone else and are turned down I dont think he would come here as second choice.
Rossi was brilliant you could tell straight away that he was first team material, I cant remember him making a mistake and was confident to go for goal all of the time. What a waste, I wonder if we had an option to sign if we had used him properly?
39 nightfall // May 19, 2008 at 16:32
why do you even talk about money?? do you really think we’re going after cheaper players…we’re going after talent!! it doesn’t matter if they cost 5 or 15m…ashley wants a great side and 20m is nothing for him…so for him to pay 30 or 50m for new players it’s of no matter…we’ll sign the best youngster we can get and if they cost 1 m or 20m…
40 HeronMag // May 19, 2008 at 16:39
Ian, I agree totally on Lua Lua and Edgar. Both look like they could be potential quality.
Nightfall - I would love to say that money doesn’t matter, but let’s face it - Investing £20m per player isn’t good financial sense. Even if we manage to win the league we’d re riddled with debt!
The current board seem to have a great attitude. Invest heavily in quality (e.g. £16m bid for Modric) and bring in quality young players on the cheap (Kadar, Baheng, possibly Vokes).
As much as I’d love it mate I still don’t want to see us spend too much. I couldn’t face us becoming the next Leeds!
41 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 16:40
If we signed Vokes KK maybe would settle for the strikers we have and concentrate on the areas that need the most attention a Quality Creative Central midfielder, A versatile pacey winger, A Central Defender and a left back.
Arshavin or Veloso
Lennon or McGeady
Dunne
Shorey
42 CRAIGG // May 19, 2008 at 16:43
Dont worry about that the next Leeds are definately going to be Tottenham.
I actually think we should cheer Spurs on in their quest to bankrupt themselves for short term glory.
43 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 16:49
agree with heronmag, we need a bigger squad with one two or three potentially better players in it, they dont all need to be, that way one of the strikers goes down and we dont miss a beat, still can win the match, we arent worried about two key midfielders or two defenders being out for a few matches and having no-one as good to replace them.
Otherwise we will be patchy, it was terrible when the ANC boys were away, it wasnt good when Martins had the bad ankle and when he missed the last match, plus if it isnt working we need someone to put on who can make a difference or someone to keep off for the next more important match but still win the game we are playing.
44 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 16:51
Craigg- what about West Ham and their finances, they seem to spend a hell of a lot too.
45 Paul // May 19, 2008 at 16:52
crouch??? wtf…no lol spend a bitov money and get adriano?? he may be a bit on the chubby side but b4 he wwas 1 of, if not the best strikers int he world, and he is strong, has good long shots, can use his head, and can destroy defences???
46 Ross G // May 19, 2008 at 17:04
Im from Bournemouth, and Vokes although promising at this level will never make it in the Premiership. Chopra could score 5 goals for Watford in 1 championship game was brought through born n bred yet is not Premiership class, plus one thing a top Prem player really needs now is pace and Vokes is not quick enough.
47 nightfall // May 19, 2008 at 17:10
HeronMag - all i’m saying is there’s no way modric (croatian league and a few caps for national side) is worth 16m..but we still made such bid…so i don’t think money’s the problem..
it’s better to buy a talented player for 15m and pay him 30-60 g/week…than pay 60+ g/week for useless player (smith,..) and players who don’t play (emre,..)
48 Bob // May 19, 2008 at 17:45
I like the suggestions for Dave Kitson.
Tall, good in the air, good control. Class player and would not cost over £5m from relegated Reading.
49 iain // May 19, 2008 at 17:49
ill be happy if we just replace the players that offer us nothing with players that would at least offer us something…
shola/smith/duff/carr/rozehnal do little more than collect wages and at times cost us games by there ineptness.
bringing in say kitson(shola)/sidwel(smith)l/
scharner(rozehnal)/shorey (carr) might not seem like a massive improvement to some but it would be an improvement none the less. you cant keep knocking players like that when its done everton no harm in securing top 5 finishes with blue chip players like neville/jagielka. if we could bring thsoe players in wit the money we bring in from sales id reckon that would leave us about 15m for one real top quality addition.
the only thing is we need to do is stop buying squad players on wages clubs like everton dream paying there top earners.
50 Ian // May 19, 2008 at 18:34
iain exactly, it is the little mistakes that have cost us, like letting go of Sibieski instead of giving him a two year contract, he wasnt going to set the world on fire but we missed his 6 or 7 potential goals from midfield and cover at the front, Solano left and we didnt find an equal to replace him, again it cost us a few goals.
51 Dan NuFc // May 19, 2008 at 18:41
would mind a few good players like .. have a look at arsenal great youth teams why not get a few in especially vokes … need good players who arnt just here for the money like smith and rozenhal onli people who want to play for the club though i am worried about not getting any in at all to be honest … i agree with you 2 iain mate
52 euanpolo // May 19, 2008 at 19:16
I have heard that there were some newcastle staff watching German sensation Mario Gomez in Stuttgart’s home game with Bielefeld. I really hope Newcastle try to sign Gomez, he has been world class in the much underated bundeliga this season and might be a bit cheaper than Gomis. Although Gomez is likely to feature in Germany’s Euro 08 squad so that would push up the price a bit. Infact he may be even starting up front with Klose. If we sign him it would be a very good bit of business.
53 Geordie Gerrard7 // May 19, 2008 at 20:26
cheaper than gomis?? you having a laugh
54 gallowgate31 // May 19, 2008 at 20:39
I honestlty don’t think money is the problem , I reckon that MA has had a look at past signings by NUFC and every other team and decided that the best way forward is to sign up young talent, ie manure in the 90’s and the arse.
Not a bad idea when we look at our history, I think we will go for 2 or 3 stars and the rest will be spent on future ‘talent’. He has stated that he is in it for the long term and I hope that is true, .
It is well overdue that we had some stability and actually built a team that will play for the club and not the wage,
some ambition seems to go a long way and as we all know the toon army appreciate it.
Turan , Veloso , Arshavin and every other name could be a bonus.
RE, SWP anyone happy to sit on a wage is not worth watching, no ambition therefore not wanted up here IMO.
Here’s a point though, how many players might look foolish if KK does go on to do something special. Cup next year, Europe in two years.
Here’s to hope !
55 Luke // May 19, 2008 at 21:58
spot the one one out
56 Paul // May 20, 2008 at 20:39
it would be great if we could spend our money outpricing everton any buying Jo, as he is a great striker and would do brilliant in this league, he could maybe be the next shearer….just with a brazilian touch….
another thing id like to see is us getting laurent robert back, even though hes out of form and couldnt even break into the derby team…hes never been the same since leaving newcastle and i believe newcastle and keegan could turn his career around and turn him into the player he once was…what is there to lose…cheap price…cheap wages…worth a try…for arguably the best free kick taker int he world and arguably one of the best left midfielders the premiership has ever seen when at the top of his game?? even if he is not of great use to the first team, he would be a great influence and can tutor our youngsters
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