Bramble rumours

By Matthew Jones
June 18 2002

Newcastle are rumoured to have agreed a fee for Titus Bramble, but Ipswich continue to say they have had no bids in for any of their players.

Newcastle are rumoured to have agreed a fee for Titus Bramble, but Ipswich continue to say they have had no bids in for any of their players.

Reports claim that Ipswich and Newcastle have agreed a fee of £5million for the England Under-21 defender and rumours suggest that once Bramble has recovered from his post-season heel surgery, the deal will be completed and he will join fellow Ipswich-born star Kieron Dyer on Tyneside.
The Magpies have been repeatedly linked with Bramble for the last year or so, and now that Town are back in Division One, they know they will have to sell some players to help balance the books.

Bramble, 21, had a superb first season in the Premiership with The Blues in 2000-01, but was below his best, in common with many of the players, last term as Town suffered relegation.

Meanwhile, Gary Breen has virtually ruled out a move to Southampton after admitting he did not see eye-to-eye with Gordon Strachan at Coventry.
Breen, who is out of contract at Highfield Road, has been linked with Saints for several weeks but the 28-year-old has refused to discuss a transfer during his time with the Republic of Ireland at the World Cup.

He said: "I have a few options but I wanted to concentrate solely on Ireland.
"As a centre-half you probably get better as you get older and more experienced and I certainly feel comfortable at this level now."

Breen - who has been attracting the interest of United - admits he is unlikely to make the switch to St Mary's and cited his relationship with former Coventry boss Strachan, now at Southampton, as his reason for his decision to snub a move south