Magpies' Confident Of Landing Leeds Utd Smith

SMITH UPDATE - MAGPIES CONFIDENT

 

Newcastle United and Manchester United are both convinced that they can lure England ace Alan Smith away from Leeds United this month following comments from Leeds United's chief executive, Trevor Birch.

Trevor Birch talked about "mopers" only days away from their FA Cup tie with Arsenal. Birch is also acting chairman and said: "If you have a player who doesn't want to play for the club, he is going to mope. That can be disruptive."

Smith and other senior players at Elland Road are furious over the acting chairmans' comments and believed their loyalty was being questioned publicly.

The Magpies' and Man Utd are ready to go head-to-head for the 23 striker, believing he can be landed for £4m less than the £12m they originally thought.

Sir Bobby Robson is looking for a new striker, as LuaLua will soon be jetting off for the African Nations Cup, Craig Bellamy is still suffering long-term through a knee injury, and Shola Ameobi is still to retun from a face injury.