Newcastle seal two deals as transfer window closes

Sep 2 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

NEWCASTLE United brought a difficult summer in the transfer market to an uninspiring close last night with the double signing of Ignacio Gonzalez and Xisco.

Although the addition of an established Uruguay international midfielder in Gonzalez and a promising Spanish-Under-21 international forward in Francisco Jimenez Tejada, known as Xisco, will be most welcome for manager Kevin Keegan, it is debatable if they will be enough to appease those supporters who have grown disillusioned by the lack of transfer activity.

Having sold James Milner to Aston Villa for £12m last week, Newcastle probably needed at least four new signings and the worry is that the first team squad is too small to deal with anything more than a couple of injuries and suspensions at any one time.

That looks to be particularly true in defence, where United have tried and failed to land a new left-back, even though Keegan had made that one of his main priorities at the end of last season. There were rumours of a heated discussion between the manager and managing director Derek Llambias last night as frustrations grew regarding the lack of progress made.

The Newcastle boss, though, has always maintained he will not agree to the signing of players just to get extra bodies in and ultimately the Magpies have simply been unable to attract the standard of player the manager wants.

Given the fee received for Milner, Newcastle will be expected to delve into the transfer market again when the window re-opens in January, but that is four – potentially very long – months away.

Nevertheless, only time will tell how costly Newcastle’s recruitment problems have been and if Xisco and Gonzalez prove to be as successful as United’s other La Liga signings this summer, Jonás Gutiérrez and Fabricio Coloccini, Keegan will be delighted. Perhaps the most

intriguing arrival is Xisco, a former teammate of Coloccini at Deportivo La Coruña and a current Spanish Under-21 international who has forged a decent reputation in Spain after being sent out on loan to division two side Vecindario two years ago.

The 22-year-old from Majorca, who has cost £5.8m, has only scored 12 goals in 44 appearances since graduating from the Deportivo youth team.

But nine of those came in 29 games last season and it is worth pointing out that, while Liverpool’s Fernando Torres was not considered to be a prolific goalscorer in Spain with Atletico Madrid, he scored 25 goals in his first season in the Premier League.

At 6ft 2, the striker also looks as though he will be a good partner in attack for Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins and the presence of Spanish speakers Gutiérrez, Coloccini and José Enrique will help him settle on Tyneside.

The same will be true for Gonzalez, who has signed on a season’s loan from Valencia after the Spanish club had already filled their quota of non-EU players. The 26-year-old, who has a four-year contract at Valencia, has been capped 21 times by Uruguay and was part of the side which finished fourth in the 2007 Copa America.

However, the midfielder has already had a largely unproductive six-month loan spell with AS Monaco in France having moved to Europe from Danubio FC and Keegan will hope he proves to be more successful in England.

There were plenty of rumours flying around throughout yesterday, although one which claimed Joey Barton was on the verge of joining Portsmouth were squashed when the controversial midfielder turned up at St James’s Park to watch Newcastle reserves play local rivals Sunderland.

The reports always appeared to be faintly ridiculous as a team would be signing a player who could be banned for 15 matches when he attends a FA disciplinary hearing on Friday for admitting in court that he assaulted former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo during a training ground argument in May last year.

The Magpies were also linked with a late move for Wigan Athletic’s England striker Emile Heskey, but the player insisted he did not want to leave.

Instead, Newcastle fans must hope Keegan’s side is boosted by the re-signing of Michael Owen. The club captain, who has just ten months remaining on his present deal, is considering a new three-year contract.

Given the trouble they have had attracting new players this summer, the decision of their most important player to remain on Tyneside could be the best signing Keegan has made since he returned to the club at the start of the year.