Newcastle wary of entering a bidding war

Aug 11 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

NEWCASTLE United have suffered a setback in the chase for Hatem Ben Arfa after Marseille tried to initiate a bidding war for the services of the France midfielder.

United believed they had struck a deal to take Ben Arfa on loan over the weekend but there has been an apparent change of heart at the Stade Velodrome, with Marseille putting a temporary block on the deal yesterday.

The French champions had come to a verbal agreement with United over a £770,000 one-year loan but a meeting scheduled for today has been postponed, indicating the deal is not as advanced as first thought.

United officials are understood to be relaxed about the situation but Newcastle will not be drawn into a bidding war for the player, and will move on to other targets if necessary.

Sources in France indicated to The Journal that they may be looking to smoke out more interest in the player before letting him conclude his desired move to the Premier League – but with Ben Arfa adamant that he does not want to join Benfica, Rubin Kazan or Hoffenheim, it looks unlikely to have the desired effect.

The player is currently with the national team preparing for their friendly against Norway tonight but he is understood to have instructed his agent that he wants to play in England – and sees United as the perfect stage for a fresh start to his career. Marseille know they need to get players off their wage bill to finance a move for Brazil striker Luis Fabiano and will sell either Ben Arfa or Senegal striker Mamadou Niang to push it through. Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier said yesterday it would “not be realistic” to sell both and it is clear that he would rather broker the permanent sale of Ben Arfa than a year-long loan.

But despite claims from France of a fresh bid for Paris SG striker Mevlut Erding the Magpies simply are not prepared to blow their budget on a player rated at around £6m.

Chris Hughton has a restricted budget which is even ruling him out of signing some players on loan. Newcastle are understood to have an interest in Chelsea defender Michael Mancienne but the loan fee may prevent any deal taking place.