Mort Putting The Cash On Hold
By Tyne-Talk
April 3 2008
Newcastle United chairman Chris Mort is still erring on the side of caution when it comes to thinking about this summer's transfer Kitty and whom it is to be spent on. Newcastle look set to avoid a relegation battle after securing 6 points in the last 2 weeks, but Mort is still insisting that no decision will be made until the season has ended before announcing just how much cash Keegan has..
It had been reported that a budget of £40M is to be available to the Newcastle manager, allowing him to splash out on whoever he wants to boost his squad.
Mort said:
"Of course we'll sit down with Kevin soon. What we've said is once we've made sure we're safe for next season, we'll go through the squad with Kevin, and see where the rebuilding's required.
It's only fair to the supporters to make sure we're safe for next season before making any decisions. We're taking nothing for granted."
Keegan has already said he would like to bring in 3 or 4 players, and a clear out is also on the horizon. Keegan's first move was to send Shola Ameobi out on loan to Stoke City last month with a possible £3M coming to the club should they take him on a permanent deal at the end of the season.
Over the last few weeks many players have been linked to the club, including, striker Spurs Darren Bent, Man City defender Richard Dunne, Athletico Madrid winger Jose Antonio Reyes and Sevilla's Luis Fabiano.
It's been obvious for weeks that NUFC's scouting has been a matter of setting up two alternative sets of targets: one for the PL, one for the fizzy pop league. I think Mort may actually not be full of s.hite this time.