 CHRIS HUGHTON has confirmed that Newcastle United have made an enquiry about Bolton's versatile defender Jlloyd Samuel - but says he is just one of a number of players he's targeting. The United boss is moving closer to a breakthrough in the transfer market and admits that he made a phone call to Owen Coyle to ask about the Trinidad & Tobago international and other Bolton players this week. But he played down talk of United tabling a formal offer for 29-year-old Samuel, who would provide useful back-up at both full-back positions. “I can’t say there hasn’t been a phone call to see what the situation is (with Samuel). But it has not gone as far as a bid, definitely not,” he told the Chronicle. “He would have been probably one of a few players we’ve enquired about from that club even. At the moment we are in the process of finding out the availability of certain players and he was one of them. “But I can say that it is nothing more than that at this stage.” United fans woke to claims in this morning’s newspapers that Steve Harper was a target for Celtic. But Hughton, who said in yesterday’s Chronicle that none of his players were for sale, gave such talk short shrift. “I can categorically state that there is nothing in that,” he said. We just won’t sell him. He’s our No 1 goalkeeper, he had a great season for us and he’s a very important member of our squad.” Meanwhile, Hughton said claims by Slavia Sofia that Newcastle had an interest in their Algeria international goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi were “nonsense”. The unlikely deal for Mbolhi was mooted yesterday after Sofia owner Ventseslav Stefanov claimed “real interest” from Newcastle, something that was news to the United boss. “I actually had a text message from someone about that player, asking if I would be interested and that is as far as that has gone,” Hughton said. “I wasn’t even aware of him or his name, so it’s surprising to hear those reports. We are definitely not interested.” | 
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