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Duff set to wing in
Jul 21 2006
By Alan Oliver, The Evening Chronicle
Damien Duff
Newcastle United are confident they can pull off the £10m signing of Damien Duff from Chelsea early next week.
The Chronicle revealed United's move for Duff in our later editions yesterday, and if Freddy Shepherd and Glenn Roeder can pull the deal off, the Republic of Ireland winger would be the first signing of the summer.
And it will be a signing which will be surely welcomed by United supporters as it would give the club the sort of left- winger they have had in the past in the likes of Chris Waddle and David Ginola, but have lacked recently.
Neither Shepherd nor Roeder want their targets to be known until everything is signed and sealed, but Chelsea had a Press day yesterday when it emerged Spurs had a big rival for Duff - and that rival is Newcastle United.
Spurs thought they had Duff in the bag after making an £8m bid last weekend.
But Chelsea would prefer that their £17m signing from Blackburn Rovers a couple of seasons ago ended up at St James' Park and not across London at White Hart Lane.
And while United are hoping to make Duff a permanent signing, they would still take Shaun Wright-Phillips on loan from Stamford Bridge.
But they realise that Jose Mourinho would not want to lose two wingers even though he still has Joe Cole and Arjen Robben.
Knowing Roeder as I do, it would not surprise me in the least if the United boss has talked to Cole, one of his former West Ham United proteges, about Duff.
And if he has, he will have received a glowing reference from the English international about his Chelsea colleague who will tick all the boxes Roeder will insist on when he makes any signings. Roeder will have spoken to both Shay Given and Stephen Carr about Duff, a player who has been so vital to the Republic of Ireland in recent seasons.
Indeed, when I walked with Shay Given from United's chartered 737 jet to the luggage collection point at Oslo airport on Wednesday lunchtime, the subject of the man he calls "Duffers" came up.
Quite naturally, the United keeper was non-committal about whether his big Irish pal would be joining him at St James' Park.
And when I suggested that if he did it would mean United would be getting a player who always scored against him, Given laughed and said: "We'll just have to wait and see."
United face an anxious wait over the weekend, but there's a distinct feeling here in Norway that they will get their man - and there will be another couple following him in.
Copy from IcNewcastle
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