Kevin Keegan has talked about some good players who will be available from the SPL in the summer. Here are four players that would certainly improve our squad greatly next season.
Aiden McGeady - speedy winger turned 22 last Friday
Keegan has recently admitted he is looking to Scotland for some players as he said:
“I am not saying there are 20 players in Scotland who are worthy of attention, but there are four or five players up there who are very decent prospects.â€
“First and foremost, I am looking for players with experience from within the British Isles and, preferably, having played in the Premiership. But the next step after that, if we can’t get those ones, is Scotland.”
Reports suggest that Keegan is very keen on Aiden McGeady but it will take a big offer to tempt Celtic to part with their 22 year old Irish winger and amounts of £12M have been mentioned. And we’ll not be the only club interested if Celtic decide to sell.
Newcastle think that they may have to go to up to £12M to tempt Celtic, and Keegan is said to remain keen on the youngster, and will no doubt monitor his form through the end of the season. Whether Newcastle will then mount a bid in the summer remains to be seen.
Aiden can play in a variety of attacking positions and usually plays as an attacking midfielder/winger for Celtic, on the left hand side. He has blistering pace and quick feet. So it looks like Aiden would fit nicely into a Kevin Keegan attacking side.
Glasgow born McGeady has played 110 times for Celtic and scored 25 goals and has represented Ireland on 17 occasions with no goals. He stands 5’10†tall and only just turned 22 years-old.
Scott McDonald - 24 year old Celtic striker
Newcastle United boss Kevin Keegan is said to be preparing a £5M bid for Celtic’s Australian striker Scott McDonald. Scott was born in Melbourne, Australia - the same birthplace as Newcastle’s current in form striker Mark Viduka.
Scott stands 5′8″ tall, the same height as Michael Owen, and it seems odd that we would bring in another small striker. We would have thought our number one striker target would be a big striker to help out Viduka, even though young Andy Carroll is also coming through.
The Magpies have spent time watching 24 year old McDonald, who was signed by Celtic for just £600K last summer, and Scott may want to try his luck in the Premier League with Newcastle. Celtic could net around £5M for the player. Quite a profit in just one year.
Here is Scott’s playing career so far:
Years Club App Goals 1998-1999 Morwell Falcons 3 0 2000-2002 Southampton 2 0 2002 Huddersfield (loan) 13 1 2003 Bournemouth (loan) 7 1 2003 Milton Keynes Dons 2 0 2004-2007 Motherwell 108 42 2007- Celtic 24 19 1999 Australia U-17 17 3 2001-2003 Australia U-20 24 16 2003-2004 Australia U-23 3 0 2006- Australia 6 0
It certainly seems he knows how to find the net since he’s scored 61 goals in his last 132 games in the SPL.
Of course the EPL is a lot harder, but we definitely need someone who can put the ball in the net. We would have won the game quite comfortably on Saturday if could have put home some of the many chances we created. Scott looks a good bet to us.
Steven Fletcher - 21 year old striker tracked by Real Madrid
It seems that Hibernian striker Steven Fletcher is attracting some of our attention and Newcastle scouts were said to be at Parkhead recently to watch the young 21 year-old striker Steven Fletcher.
Real Madrid have also been linked with Steven, and in fact has just signed a long term contract with the Edinburgh based club making him the club’s highest-paid player. Fletcher scored his first hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Gretna on 13 February 2008.
Real Madrid rate the 21-year-old as one of the hottest prospects in European football and followed him closely during last summer’s FIFA Under-20 tournament in Canada.
Jeff Vetere, who joined Newcastle United recently as part of a new recruitment team at the Tyneside club, was so impressed by Fletcher he sent glowing reports to Bernabeu sporting director Predrag Mijatovic. It looks like Jeff has now alerted Newcastle United to the young Scottish prospect.
Fletcher has 13 goals for the season and Scotland’s new boss George Burley may bring the prolific youngster into his squad for Croatia’s visit to Hampden Park on March 26. The Old Firm and Blackburn Rovers have also been linked with Steven, who has scored 34 times in 133 appearances for Hibernian.
It seems that Fletcher is an excellent player in the making and he, along with a number of other youngsters, could be brought in during the summer and immediately be part of our first team squad.
Carlos Cuellar - a Keegan target in the summer?
Newcastle United are said to be among Premiership clubs taking a good look at Rangers’ Spanish center-back Carlos Cuella. Kevin Keegan was at the Rangers Sporting Lisbon game last week and news is that he was watching the Spanish central defender, amongst other players. It was Kevin’s second visit inside a month, after he and assistant Terry McDermott attended the 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen in the previous round.
There was even news last week that Northern Ireland international Steven Davis, on loan to Rangers from Fulham, is another player potentially being monitored by Newcastle’s recruitment team. It seems that Rangers are very likely to receive bids for the 6’3†Spaniard when the summer transfer window opens. No transfer fees have been mentioned for the Spaniard but we think his fee would be in the range of about £4M.
Carlos was born in Madrid, Spain, is 26 years old and has played 26 times for Rangers this season scoring 4 goals, but he is not yet a Spanish International.
So, what do you think of these four? Are there other good players north of the border who could do a job for us next season?
Comments very welcome.
Loading ...
30 responses so far ↓
1 Tom_Toon // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:06
Wouldn’t mind any of them.
Id like Cuellar, on the fence about McGeady and dont really care about if the other 2 come or not.
2 Charlie Bucket // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:11
Hearts have a Ghanaian midfielder called Laryea Kingston who is meant to be a really good player, he can play defensive or attacking midfield or wide right. He can take a good free kick and at 27 would probably represent a better bet than Geremi. According to rumours we were linked with him last summer.
They also have a young English left winger called Andrew Driver born in Oldham who is 20 years old. From what I have heard he has been one of their better performers this season.
3 joel // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:14
tom toon and charlie bucket please can you go on my website and read my info and do my polls.
tell what you think of it after you have done(thanks)
http://newcastleunitedforever.blogspot.com/
4 Kenny678 // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:22
I sais last thursday about cuellar and i looked to have been right!cuellar and mcgeady would be two great signings,both very under rated just because the scottish league isnt the standard premiership is!scott mcdonald however no thanks!
5 HeronMag // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:29
Buying players from the SPL is always a gamble. Personally I think Keegan is looking at Barry Ferguson. I’ve heard Keegan singing his praises before and he is the type of playmaker KK would want in the centre of his midfield.
I’m not sure on any of these players, even McGeady and especially Cuellar. But I’ve every faith in KK’s ability to find raw talent so whoever Keegan brings in will have my full support.
6 Jimmie // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:31
McGeady looks intresting but none of the others. Cuellar i certainly a good player but I have a bad feeling about buying centrebacks from Rangers, could have something to do with a certain Boumsoong… but I dont know..
7 Charlie Bucket // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:34
Great website Joel!
8 joel // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:38
Charlie Bucket what did you do on the website?
9 Zx // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:42
When i look at Stilian Petrov, Maloney, Boumsong, it just freaks me out to think that we are looking at players from the SPL. How many actually turn out good? McFadden and Hutton…who else?
10 HeronMag // Apr 7, 2008 at 13:57
Got to agree with ZX. Players from the SPL rarely work out. But when you think back to Viduka and Van Hooijdonk…
11 Tom_Toon // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:00
Arteta, Van Bronckhorst, Larrson and De Canio are other that have done well in the prem in recent times
12 irish_al // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:20
Gattuso
13 Spyro // Apr 7, 2008 at 14:31
Mcgeady would be great, especially if we lose zoggy
14 Bill F // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:07
Despite playing for Derby, I think Miller has looked good, I reckon he would be OK in a decent team.
15 CRAIGG // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:12
I think Steven Davis is kind of like, Gary Speed when we signed him just hit a brick wall at his previous club, If people remember his first 2 seasons at Villa he was sensational and Man Utd ,Spurs and Liverpool all watched him closely, I dont think he would be bad a signing .
Barry Ferguson flopped at Blackburn and wont leave Rangers again.
Cuellar is high risk IMO as CBs always look good against th majority of teams up there IE Boumsong, Stubbs and Weir.
McGeady would be amazing, no point in McDonald even though he looks good we have Owen, Martins and dare i say it Smith a CFs under 6″0 ft. We need a target man to replace Shola and we can then send Carroll out on loan.
Never seen Fletcher so cannot pass judgement on him.
If i was to pick a player from the SPL i would go for Kris Boyd as he is a six footer, good in the air and scores loads for club and country.
16 Obafan // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:43
Can’t judge on the SPL cause I do not often see videos of that league. I know the Scottish football is going in the good direction and that they have a few upcoming talents.
I also hope that KK will be able to make a shocking transfer
.
First we should go after Arshavin, without any doubt, cause after the Euro 2008 he might be in the spotlight of the bigger clubs and then it will hard to get him..
17 Leo // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:49
kingston and scott brown also look good….
18 CRAIGG // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:52
Brown does look amazing but we maybe missed the boat last season in regards to him.
19 greaeme // Apr 7, 2008 at 15:55
scott mcdonaldo no way good goalscorer is he a better player than owen,martins,viduca no he is not even better than shola.he is a championship player.i hate when where linked with guys like him you read about it all the time decent scottish player that go to england and then sturggle i can name loads.and ros mccormac will be the next one if he goes to wigan he will be back in scotland by 3 years after a couple of loans spells in league 1.
plus kris boyd god no as a rangers fan he is pish he has no ablity yes he can score goals.but is a pish player list his skills he has nothing god i feel pist off if newcastle want back up in europe boyd is not the anwser i mean this when i say it he is not even good enough for dearby miller is better.miller can pass better cross,run,workharder than boyd.
20 Luke // Apr 7, 2008 at 16:12
highly rated rangers centreback? where have I heard that before…?
21 Macca // Apr 7, 2008 at 16:43
I’m a big fan of McGeady he was ok last season, but didn’t look up enough, made wrong decisions passing, held the ball too long, but this seasons he’s been fabulous, he’s matured and Celtic have really developed him well. They’ve pushed him and he’s come out on top.
He’s been unreal for them. The amount of goals that he’s set up is a hell lot more then he’s scored. He’s electric pace, and is really skillful with the ball, a more physical Ronaldo is one way of describing him. (Obviously not as good as Ronaldo but the same kind of style-ish, sort of anyway.) He’s come on so much this season, there’s not a match where you don’t see 2 or 3 players trying to catch him and mark him, yet he still manages, with pin point accuracy to cross the ball in. I think his improvement this year was summed up when Barca, superstar Barcelona had 3 players marking him at one stage. He’s such a goal threat.
Imagine, having someone who could actually give decent crosses. Martins and such would have a hell lot more goals to their names.
He’d improve our team so much and he’s just 22 years old, which means he hasn’t peaked yet, long way from it and he can still get better.
If we’ve a chance to get this young lad and we pass it up I’ll go mad because he’d ad so much to our team.
Scott McDonald was outstanding last season, won the player of the year and got MOTM 8 times for Celtic. I could be wrong but I think he’s their top scorer as well this season.
But he’s been a bit off ish of late, like most of the Celtic team. On form, IMO he’s better then Owen and them up front, he certainly knows how to find the back of the net all right.
Anyway Strachan would have to have fallen and hit his head very, very hard to let both of those top class players go.
Not sure about the other 2 really, doubt they’d leave. But if I’d to choose it’d be McGeady over and over again. Fabulous player.
22 Leo // Apr 7, 2008 at 19:26
CB dominant style such as cuellar or garay
LB someone good at getting forward and happy to play second fiddle to Enrique
RB young player happy to wait for his turn
CM someone big young strong who can pass from deep and make clever through balls and they need to be of a certain height
Winger x2 quick pacey players
If available a striker in the mould of cisse or gomis would be good either way
I know keegan has said he only wants 4 or 5 players but if the right back is a young player keegan probably will not count him in that sect
The players I believe would be good are
CB Cuellar- 8mil
LB Shorey- 5mil
RB Glenn Johnson- 8mil
CM Carrick/kahlenburg 15mil/no idea
LW Mcgeady- 12mil
RW Arshavin- 6mil
= 54mil overall
Glenn Johnson would probably not happen and if we went for someone young and which has potential then it would free money to be used elsewhere
That would massively improve our club
23 Leo // Apr 7, 2008 at 19:27
If I was going to add another player from the Scottish league to that I would replace khalenburg with scott brown because hes been good when ive seen him and I aint seen a great deal of the dane
24 JP from The Rock of Gibraltar // Apr 7, 2008 at 19:57
ED- How tall is Steven Fletcher?… and has Cuellar played for Spain U21s?
25 JP from The Rock of Gibraltar // Apr 7, 2008 at 20:01
McGeady would be a great signing for Newcastle. I just hope we get him. 12M does seem too much but it might be cheap in a number of years, he has great potential. N’Zogbia could make the money for the deal but I wouldn’t like to see Charlie The Zog leave us either. We also have Aaron Lennon to think about, I just can’t wait for summer with all these transfer rumors and Keegan being manager, it’s all really really exciting
26 gordond // Apr 7, 2008 at 23:34
Macca, McDonald couldn’t lace Owens boots.Boumsong was good for Rangers(that could have been souness helping out his old boss buying him) Quellar is better.Mcgeady? Scott Brown YES great player.Lareya Kingston has commited himself to Hearts(goes for nothing) out of all these players i would love to see Quellar at SJP.
27 obamagic // Apr 8, 2008 at 0:32
lets look at some german players…maybe Per Mertesacker (Bremen) or Christoph Metzelder (Madrid) or Phillipp Lahm (Munich)… they’re all impressive defenders…. maybe we should pay 30 mill to bremen for diego and mertesacker.
28 Lawman // Apr 8, 2008 at 15:35
nakamura!!!! Amazing at deadball and extremely skillfull. During KK’s first term, NUFC was making good headway into the asian market but ebbed away since his departure due to the boring football since. Nakamura will definitely help us pick up from where we left off in terms of opening up the asian market for NUFC. Shirt sales in Japan alone have single handedly helped Celtic’s balance sheet stay very healthy indeed. scott brown, Kris Boyd and barry robson (remember him????) also looks very good.
29 ToonVOL // Apr 8, 2008 at 18:06
cuellar is too slow but smart..we can get a better CB…mcgeady is a good buy but as said is gonna
cost alot…if we sell zogs (dont!!!) recoup the $
into a mcgeady bid…not ever certain he would
want to come on though…
fletcher I no little of and cant comment on…
despite the good run and changing fortunes and blah blah blah…these players should not be in our top 18 next year..
butt…
a.smith..chickenheaded ostrich necked fool who has no posiition to play and offers nothing
but futile endeavors and wasted hustle…can barely pass…
viduka…lazy and only playing well right now…60 % of the time he cant be bothered and he only scores in bunches…does have some class though, but he’s plodding and so drab,,,rather would play carroll…plus whats he on 100 k a week…
30 Yeomsta // Apr 8, 2008 at 18:46
man city linked with ronaldinho..newcastle with aiden mcgeady, big club? the middle clubs are starting to leave us behind now
Leave a Comment