Lovenkrands: I'd love to return to Newcastle

Aug 22 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

“As far as I know there has been nothing concrete from them although there has been a bit of interest. I have had a few offers from other clubs as well and there are a few things on the table at the moment for me.

“I know Newcastle are a Championship club now but they still have great fans and I don’t think they will be in the Championship for long. Of course it is a consideration (playing Premier League football) but Newcastle are a big club. They got 43,000 fans for the last game, it is great the fans are still backing the team.”

United’s hopes of signing Campbell appeared to be fading after he began negotiations with former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson at Meadow Lane.

Campbell, a free agent after leaving Portsmouth at the end of the season, is mulling over an offer which would match the wages he was on at Pompey and give him a break into coaching.

But, just like Lovenkrands, he is yet to be offered a contract by the United hierarchy. His agent Sky Andrew was coy on the switch to Newcastle when contacted by The Journal this week, while Hughton denied reports that Campbell had been at the training ground.

But the player himself appeared to give the speculation credence when he took in last weekend’s game against Reading – and told supporters that he would like to move to Newcastle.

It will be of some comfort to United fans that there has been no further decimation of the squad following Damien Duff’s move to Fulham.

Reports continue to link Steven Taylor with a move away from Newcastle but he appears to be delaying a decision on his future until the club’s ownership issue is finally resolved. Taylor is interesting up to five top-flight clubs including Everton and Aston Villa, but reports that he had begun discussions with the Toffees are premature.

Taylor travelled with the squad to London yesterday and is set to play against Crystal Palace this afternoon alongside Fabricio Coloccini, another who is for sale at the right price.

Taylor would leave St James’s Park with a heavy heart and would almost certainly stay for the rest of the season if Alan Shearer was installed as manager. But he has grown impatient waiting for news on that front.