Newcastle United transfer hotline on alert
Jun 17 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
AS Newcastle United’s new owners begin to scrutinise the club’s books, football agents are on red alert as they wait for concrete news regarding Alan Shearer’s future as manager.
Although a takeover could be several weeks away from completion, The Journal revealed yesterday that Shearer could still be appointed in the next few days, which has heightened the sense of anticipation on Tyneside that another regrettable saga in the club’s chequered history is finally coming to a close.
The sale of United moves on to a significant new stage today when the window for interested parties to confirm they have the funds needed to buy the club closes, and the due diligence process begins.
This will also enable owner Mike Ashley to gauge the opinion of all the interested parties and should all of them – and that is understood to be the case – want Shearer as manager, the former skipper will be confirmed as manager almost immediately with his appointment no longer a barrier to any takeover. Should that favourable verdict materialise, Shearer will throw himself into the job with gusto as he tries to make up for lost time, with no pre-season friendlies arranged and no plans in place for the start of the Championship season, even though Newcastle’s fixtures will be released later today.
If Shearer is confirmed as manager, it will also spark a frenzy in the transfer market, with Newcastle’s new boss likely to be one of the most wanted men in football in the coming weeks, as agents look to discover whether their clients have a future at St James’s Park, or any chance of getting a move to Tyneside.
Despite their drop into the Championship, most agents believe Newcastle will still have tremendous pulling power this summer with Shearer at the helm because of his reputation as a player.
That appears to have been supported by the fact highly-coveted players like Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford, Norwegian midfielder Per Ciljan Skjelbred and Tottenham right-back Chris Gunter are waiting to discover Shearer’s fate before they commit to another club, even though the start of pre-season training is just two weeks away.
