PORTSMOUTH boss Harry Redknapp has been checking on Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi.
 But the word from the south coast today was that there is no way Redknapp would use his England defender Sol Campbell to lure Ameobi to Fratton Park. And with such a paper-thin squad, United boss Kevin Keegan is looking to add to it rather than losing any of his senior players. No current United player can top Ameobi’s tally of 46 goals for the club – Oba Martins is next with 24 – but the former England Under-21 striker faces competition at St James’s Park from Martins, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and the up-and- coming Andy Carroll. Redknapp has Kanu, who was stretchered off playing for Nigeria in the African Cup of Nations last night, and John Utaka in Ghana, so he is desperate for a striker. He is also looking at Milan Baros at Lyon. Harry actually rang me last Wednesday to explain why he had turned down the managerial job with United – and his parting shot was to ask about Ameobi. But the Pompey boss has Linvoy Primus out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and he does not want to split up his central defensive pairing of Campbell and Sylvain Distin. Campbell, of course, was a United target last season and it has long been rumoured that he was dating the daughter of a leading Tyneside businessman. Ameobi wants to stay and prove himself under Kevin Keegan at St James’s Park and he started KK’s first game back in charge – playing 90 minutes in Saturday’s goalless draw with Bolton Wanderers, despite not having kicked a ball in the first team since Newcastle’s Carling Cup defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in late September. And Keegan was full of praise for the 26-year-old’s efforts with the United boss, saying: “I asked Shola if we could get 30 minutes out of him off the bench, and he played 90 minutes. “It wasn’t ideal for him, but I thought he did terrifically well for us.” Keegan added that he was confident Ameobi was capable of improving his game, and putting the injury problems of recent seasons firmly behind him. Meanwhile, John Arne Riise was left out of the Liverpool 16 for last night’s Premier League game with Aston Villa at Anfield, prompting talk that this had been done at the request of Martin O’Neill who wants to take the Norwegian international to Villa Park. But Riise is the sort of attacking left-back that Keegan likes – in the mould of one of his first signings in his first spell as manager at St James’ Park John Beresford – and could be the answer to one of United’s problem positions. | 
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