Bobby Robson hopes to entice Sheffield Wednesday's Belgian striker Gilles de Bilde to Newcastle as cover for the injured Alan Shearer. Shearer, who had a knee operation yesterday, will be out for 10 to 12 weeks. Robson's reaction has been to instigate talks with the Wednesday manager Paul Jewell about taking de Bilde off the first division club's payroll.
A stumbling block is that Newcastle will almost certainly have to wait until the player returns to Hillsborough on January 11th from a three-month loan spell at Aston Villa where he has started only three times for the first team.
But if Robson is willing to hold out for a fortnight, rather than seek a quicker option elsewhere, he should have no difficulty negotiating a deal for a player Jewell is keen to offload as quickly as possible.
Despite his undoubted talent, de Bilde, a Belgian international, has been largely fitful since signing for Wednesday from PSV Eindhoven 18 months ago and Jewell has publicly criticised the 29-year-old several times this season.
The prospect of a first division player with a moderate scoring record moving to Newcastle will hardly thrill Newcastle's fans, but Robson is restricted by the funds available at St James' Park. As well as missing his most influential player, Robson expects to be without another striker, Carl Cort, for a further five weeks. Wednesday know they will have to take a significant loss on the £3 million the former Hillsborough manager Danny Wilson paid PSV. Villa are unlikely to follow up their loan move.
Aston Villa's £9.5 million record signing Juan Pablo Angel's debut for the club could be delayed until after this weekend because of problems attaining a work permit over the Christmas period. The festive break has meant a delay in dealing with the application via the Department for Education and Employment and now it is touch and go whether the Colombian will get clearance to play against Leicester. Gregory is also reported to be ready to try and sign another Colombian, Boca Juniors midfielder Mauricio Serna, with the player's agent claiming he has been offered a three-year deal.
Everton look likely to avoid severe punishment from the English FA after branding the missile-throwing fan who felled Coventry goalkeeper Chris Kirkland an "idiot". The Coventry teenager was hit on the head by a missile thrown from the crowd near the end of his side's 2-1 victory at Goodison Park on Tuesday.
The incident has been included in Scunthorpe referee Neale Barry's report, which is unlikely to be considered fully by FA disciplinary chiefs until after the festive season. But the FA are likely to follow the precedent set already this season by the coin-throwing incident during the Manchester derby when David Beckham was hit by coins.
Rangers chairman David Murray confirmed yesterday that West Ham have begun moves to buy deposed skipper Lorenzo Amoruso. West Ham manager Harry Redknapp admitted after Tuesday's 5-0 win against Charlton that he fancied signing the Italian centre-back - and expected to get him on the cheap.
Rangers manager Dick Advocaat denied all knowledge of an approach, saying only that every player has his price, but Murray revealed talks have already taken place. Inter Milan are selling their veteran Chilean striker Ivan Zamorano to America of Mexico.
