Barton Set To Seal Magpies Switch
Joey Barton has committed his future to Newcastle after a whirlwind
day on Tyneside.
The 24-year-old Manchester City midfielder is understood to have
put pen to paper on a five-year deal at St James' Park after the
Magpies fended off competition from West Ham to clinch his £5.5m
signing.
Barton's capture came after Sam Allardyce beat Hammers boss Alan
Curbishley to the punch and, during talks at the club's Darsley
Park training headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, persuaded him he
could fulfil his potential at Newcastle.
With agent Willie McKay conducting negotiations with chairman
Freddy Shepherd down the road at St James' Park, the player headed
off for a medical and was then ready to return home to mull over
the offer.
However, it is understood he was so impressed with what he saw and
heard that he turned around and went straight back to the stadium
to sign a deal which is thought to amount to around £70,000 a
week.
Barton's capture is likely to have a knock-on effect for the
Hammers, who should now be able to complete their own move for
Newcastle skipper Scott Parker.
That deal has been on ice for several days with Allardyce unwilling
to sanction it until he had a ready-made replacement safely on
board.
The new manager has only been back at his desk for two days
following a short break, and has wasted little time in pushing
ahead with his rebuilding plans.
Barton will arrive once again having to answer his critics after
his training ground bust-up with City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, but
with his pedigree in no doubt.
Allardyce will be confident of harnessing his temperament having
managed the likes of El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka during his
time at Bolton, and that will be important with the Magpies having
found themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons on too many
occasions in recent years.
Mark Viduka has agreed in principle to join the club.
The 31-year-old is expected to hold talks with Newcastle later this
week with the Hammers, Portsmouth and promoted Birmingham all
monitoring his situation.
Boro are also thought to be among those clubs to have registered an
interest in Barton after his departure from Eastlands became
inevitable.
The Teessiders, however, will be more disappointed at the potential
loss of Viduka, although perhaps not surprised after seeing him
presented with a series of options as his three-year contract ran
down.
Allardyce's predecessor Glenn Roeder twice tried to sign the
Australia international last season, and although manager Gareth
Southgate remained hopeful of securing his services beyond the
confines of his existing deal, he knew he could live to regret not
tying him up before he was allowed to talk to other clubs.
Viduka's 19 goals last season were a major factor in Boro's
successful fight to drag themselves away from the drop zone, and in
all, he found the back of the net on 42 occasions in 100
appearances following his £4.5million move from Leeds in July,
2004.
His capture would see Newcastle replace the physical presence and
hold-up play they lost with Alan Shearer's retirement last summer,
and while there has been speculation over the futures of Michael
Owen and Obafemi Martins, Allardyce would be more than happy to go
into the new campaign with that trio and the fit-again Shola Ameobi
competing to lead the line.
With out-of-contract Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim and Paris St
Germain's Czech international defender David Rozehnal also in his
sights, the manager is intent on making an early impact.
His transfer dealings are being carried out against the backdrop of
the battle for control in the club's boardroom with Shepherd still
at the helm despite his health problems.
However, would-be owner Mike Ashley is expected to formalise his
100p-per-share offer to the club's shareholders later this
week.
The offer document is due to be sent out within days with Ashley
hoping to clinch a complete £133.1million buy-out having already
acquired a 41.6% stake at a cost of £55million.
