Magpies' bid for Victor Moses turned down by Palace

Jan 29 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

NEWCASTLE United have been told they must raise their bid to more than £2million if they want to land Crystal Palace wonder-kid Victor Moses.

United lodged an offer of £1.5million for the teenager following their 2-0 defeat of Palace on Wednesday but were told that the South London club’s administrators want in excess of £2million for the 19-year-old, who has become one of the hottest properties inthe Football League this season.

The administrators believe they have a strong bargaining hand with United’s promotion rivals Nottingham Forest and West Bromwich Albion also in the hunt for Moses, who has become a viable target after Palace were put into administration earlier this week.

Stoke and Manchester City are the other interested parties but Moses’ agent Tony Finnigan confirmed to The Journal that the Premier League pair are yet to put a bid on the table.

Whether United owner Mike Ashley will sanction an increased bid is now the question, although it appears as if the player would be prepared to talk to Hughton if a bid was accepted.

The Moses camp are understood to believe that a move to the Premier League – and being deprived of first-team starts – may not be beneficial to his progress.

“I know that Newcastle United are seriously interested in Victor and have made a bid,” Finnigan last night told The Journal.

“At the moment there are three clubs that are interested and they are all Championship clubs but there are others who have been mentioned as well, such as Manchester City.

“The interest of Nottingham Forest and West Brom is well documented but I don’t know whether any Premier League clubs would be prepared to take a punt on a kid who has not played in that division yet.