Paper Talk - Monday July 11

By Jebediah
July 11 2005

Jebediah’s roundup of Mondays tabloid newspapers, and a look at the stories and rumours involving Newcastle United.

A fairly quiet day in the papers today in terms of transfers, but a fair bit of news and quotes from club captain and manager in particular.

Starting with transfer news from The Sun, Real Madrid's Luis Figo has asked his club to let him go for nothing, as the verbal agreement Figo held with officials promised. Figo is believed to have agreed terms with the Merseyside club, however Liverpool are not prepared to cough up £2m for a man playing on a one year contract. Figo said "If they [Real Madrid] don't see me as a part of their plans, why won't they let me go? It is my dream to play for Liverpool but dreams don't always come true." Graeme Souness confirmed earlier in the summer that he had shown interest in the Portuguese midfielder, but nothing materialized after that. Figo has expressed his desire to play in the Premiership many times before.

Another Toon target linked with a move to Liverpool today is Birmingham defender Matthew Upson. From The Mirror and The Sun, Reds manager Rafael Benitez is set to launch a £5m raid for the Englishman. He has two years left to run on his current contract, but talks of a renewal broke down with his agent saying "Matthew feels he should be playing in Europe."

Moving away from transfer talk, Graeme Souness has spoken to the press ahead of the clubs Intertoto campaign, which kicks off this weekend. The manager has said Scott Parker will not be used, to ensure his foot will heal properly in time for the kick off of the Premier League, which Souness yesterday said was the "most important thing for us. It is the be all and end all." He also confirmed that the club hopes to get Emre signed this week, but again stated that he would not figure in Sundays match in Slovakia, which he said "will be a really difficult game."

Finally, Toon captain Alan Shearer has spoken briefly about Graeme Souness saying "I've respect for the boss. He should be given time." Souness has his fair share of critics, so this vote of confidence from one man who is well respected on Tyneside will certainly do the manager no harm.