About Face (and other transfer bits)

Football365 | All The News | Football News | BEYE MAKES VILLA SWITCH

The news over the last days made it seem that Beye was a done deal at Hull which seemed like a great signing to us here at the blog. The news that Villa have swooped in and made him theirs comes as a bit of a shock but has to be considered an excellent move none-the-less. With Nigel Reo-Coker having been leaned upon heavily at right back last season, bringing in an actual right back who played well last season is a strong move for Villa in their mini-league with Spurs, Everton, and Citeh to be the best team outside the Big Four (sorry Citeh fans/Johnny-come-lately's - they aren't going to break the Top Four this season).

Assuming that Villa are going to be pretty good, Beye will be very good between clean sheets and his attacking stats.

In other transfer news - BFMV (that's Big Fat Mark Viduka for the uninitiated) has signed for Pompey. Sounds like he must weigh 300 lbs right about now but come early November he should be rounding into form and getting ready to put on his famous Transfer Window run of good form. Between he and Kanu Pompey have a really nice strikeforce...if the year were 2003. This year, not so much.

Aquilani is also official at Liverpool and about the same time Viduka is, err, rounding into form, Alberto will be back from the injury he is currently carrying. I guess if he's your guy, he's your guy and a few weeks out with an ankle knock isn't a big deal.

Milner Set To Pen New Magpies Deal

He was Aaron Lennon before Aaron Lennon was cool.

Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce has received a double boost with James Milner ready to commit his future to the club.

Geremi's free transfer from Chelsea was officially completed on Friday when he was granted a work permit after agreeing a three-year deal earlier this week.

The news marks a remarkable turnaround for the player, who was within hours of completing a permanent move to Aston Villa last summer.

Milner was actually at Villa Park when the Magpies' bid to sign Mark Viduka from Middlesbrough fell through and scuppered the transfer.

Ironically, the two men will be in the same team next season after the Leeds-born midfielder proved himself a valuable asset to then-manager Glenn Roeder during an intensely difficult campaign.

Three cheers (and five years) for BFJM! NUFC's side is coming together, and if they would just move Owen and Martins, they would realize my dream of a Duff-Viduka-Milner front line. Now we see how it would work with Butt-Barton-Geremi in the midfield, and defenders to be named later. Like a cheaper version of Chelsea, or a more expensive version of Bolton.

Big Sam Wins Race For Smith

"We're getting the band back together!"

Newcastle are believed to have beaten Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Tottenham to the signing of Manchester United striker Alan Smith.

Magpies boss Sam Allardyce has been a busy man since taking the reins at St James' Park, and is now reported to have added Smith to his list of new recuits, which includes Mark Viduka and Joey Barton.

The Toon chief has moved for Red Devils hitman Smith after discovering that strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins have get-out clauses written into their contracts.

And 26-year-old Smith, who signed a five-year deal in 2004, is ready to leave Old Trafford after being told he will not be offered a new contract.

The former Leeds forward has many admirers, with Gareth Southgate, Martin O'Neill and Martin Jol all keeping tabs on his situation.

But he is believed to have been lured to the North-East by the promise of regular first-team football, which he is unlikely to get at the Theatre of Dreams due to the summer arrivals of Portuguese ace Nani and Brazilian star Anderson.

First Viduka, now Smith. Kewell is available from Liverpool. Danny Mills is persona non grata at Man Citeh (nil). Ian Harte wants to return from Spain. David Batty... well, I guess he already paid his dues at NUFC. "Bakke and Brann have a "gentlemen's agreement that Bakke can leave Brann if a big club want to sign him." (Insert your own joke about "does NUFC qualify" here.) Gary Kelly is still at Leeds who are now in the second (third) division, and NUFC do need a new fullback.



It's all falling into place for David O'Leary... I mean Sam Allardyce.



So does this mean that Owen and Martins are likely to leave, and not just available to leave?

Oops, that's Rowan and Martins. Either way, it's a comedy duo.

Martins Shock For Big Sam

Do the kids still say "mad hops"?

Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins reportedly has a £13million get-out clause in his contract.

The Nigerian striker signed for the Magpies just last summer for £10million, but new boss Sam Allardyce was shocked to discover a similar clause in Martins' contract to that of strike partner Michael Owen, according to The Evening Chronicle.

Owen could quit the club if someone offers £9million for his services, leaving Allardyce in the nightmare position of not knowing if his top two strikers will be at the club for the beginning of next season.

Martins recently said he was happy at Newcastle, but the north-east newspaper claims Arsenal will make a move if they lose Thierry Henry.

I don't know about Oba to Arsenal, but I'm still pushing for Big Sam to utilize his 4-3-3 with Duff, Viduka, and Milner.

Boro Agree Tuncay Terms

Middlesbrough have made a major transfer breakthrough by agreeing personal terms with Turkey striker Tuncay Sanli.

The 25-year-old forward, who is out of contract with Fenerbahce,
will head for Teesside to undergo a medical next week with a view to
completing a free transfer switch to the Barclays Premier League.

Tuncay, reportedly a target for Manchester City and Birmingham, began his career at home-town club Sakaryaspor before joining Fenerbahce in 2002, and has scored 59 goals in 154 league games for the Istanbul outfit.

He also scored a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester United in 2004.

A central striker who can also play on both flanks, he has 13 goals in 43 internationals and will be seen as a replacement for Mark Viduka, who left Boro for north-east rivals Newcastle last week.

This certainly sounds like better news than signing Jeremie Aliadiere. I don't know much of anything about Tuncay. Is he +10 material?

Viduka Closing In On Toon Move

Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka is understood to have agreed in principle to join north-east rivals Newcastle.

His 19 goals last season - seven of them in his last five starts - were key to Boro's successful fight against relegation from the Barclays Premiership and took his tally for the club to 42 in 100 appearances, 20 of them as a substitute. [emphasis mine -j.]

That's the key. Viduka plays hard when his next payday is the issue. So you invariably get goals from him in August, December, and April. Then he'll go quiet for months at a time. I sure hope Big Sam realizes this. Maybe they'll structure his contract in such a way that he only gets paid when he scores. Or they'll make him sign a series of short-term (like a month at a time) deals. Anything they can do to keep him focused.

Now, is Big Sam going to bring his 4-3-3 to Newcastle? Viduka is certainly the mold of the big center forward he likes. See Davies, Kevin. (As an aside, what would Big Sam have done with Shearer? Wow. Imagine his glee at having the original at his disposal.) But are Owen and Martins the wide attackers he wants? Certainly Duff and Milner would be naturals. In fact, wouldn't a front line of Duff, Viduka, and Milner playing in front of Parker, Barton, and Butt suit Sam nicely? It would be like Bolton but with better quality players. But how do you leave out £17 million worth of striker? Going to be interesting, especially for fantasy managers, how Big Sam works it out.

And can we start the Speed to Newcastle rumours right here and now? He's a former and still much beloved player. He knows and thrives under Allardyce's system. Makes much more sense to me that Sam would go back to Bolton for Speed, rather than Nolan or Diouf.

As for Boro, they now have to replace (and hopefully for them, increase) Viduka's goal tally. Perhaps they should be looking for a bit more mobility to complement Yakubu. In fact, they might just have to replace Yakubu too if his on again, off again relationship with the Nigerian national team is on again for January's African Nations Cup. I think they could do worse than look to prise Louis Saha AND Alan Smith from Manchester United. That would give them the options they would want, and by offering for both players, might sweeten the deal for ManU who have already spent a ton of money, but are still looking for another striker themselves.