NUFC Transfer Rumours

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Henry have told he could only join Arsenal if he decide to play in the Premiership again.

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Newcastle boss Keegan makes City defender Dunne his £5m priority

Kevin Keegan will make a £5million bid for Manchester City defender Richard Dunne, 28.

The Newcastle boss has made Republic of Ireland Player of the Year Dunne his No 1 defensive target after discussions with football director Dennis Wise.

Keegan wants players with Premier League experience as he looks to bring in at least five new faces while Wise wants a host of foreign youngsters.

Dunne missed City's 3-2 defeat to Fulham at Eastlands after suffering a hamstring injury in the victory over Portsmouth.

Meanwhile Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has promised Manchester United he and his players will do their best to end Chelsea's title hopes.

And West Ham manager Alan Curbishley has made the same pledge to Chelsea by vowing to field as competitive a side as possible against United next weekend.

With the two rivals level on points following Chelsea's 2-1 victory over United at Stamford Bridge - but with the champions possessing a far superior goal difference - the title could be decided in the next round of fixtures when injury-hit West Ham travel to Old Trafford on Saturday and Chelsea to St James' Park two days later.

Newcastle famously fell apart at the same stage more than a decade ago when United boss Sir Alex Ferguson used mind games to de-rail the brittle Keegan, whose talented side had appeared set to take the title in style.

Keegan, now in his second stint on Tyneside, has neither forgiven nor forgotten but insisted he nonetheless had a duty to plot Chelsea's downfall and help United in the process.

He said: "It is our job to help Man United win the title, and that's not easy for me to say.

"Yes, Chelsea are a big club and would be worthy champions as would Man United, but we have a chance now, having put together a run of six or seven games unbeaten, to see how far we've come by playing one of the big four.

"I don't have a preference at all. I just think the best team usually wins it - except the time we lost the title. The best team came second that time."

The Daily Mail

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Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan says he is confident they have the spending power to splash out £25 million on one player.

"Spending £25 million on one player doesn't frighten me one bit," said Keegan, who paid a then world record £15 million for Alan Shearer in 1996.

"You have to target big players. If you have a budget, it's like any budget: if you have 'X' million, you can divide it into one or two players, or four or five.

"We'll be in there pitching for some very good players. If you don't bowl, you can't knock the wickets down. We might get hit for six, but we might get a wicket."

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Newcastle United are set to move for Everton fullback Leighton Baines. The Sun says Baines, who has struggled in his first senior season at Goodison Park, is on Toon boss Kevin Keegan's shopping list.

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Kevin Keegan is chasing West Ham striker Dean Ashton. The Sun says Keegan is weighing up a swoop for Ashton, who scored against Toon on the weekend.

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Newcastle United are ready to double Richard Dunne's Manchester City wages to bring him to Tyneside. Dunne and his agent Paul Stretford are also in the picture and they know that the Dublin-born defender could double his £28,000 a week wages by switching to St James's Park.

Dunne's contract expires in 13 months and, despite the efforts of Eriksson, his new one still lies unsigned at Eastlands.