MARLON Harewood is still “very keen” to step into the breach if Newcastle United fail to land top striker target Jermaine Beckford.
With Leeds unwilling to budge on their £2m valuation of the striker and United apparently reticent to raise their offer above £1.5m, Newcastle’s pursuit of Beckford is likely to be a drawn-out affair.
Beckford is desperate to sign for Newcastle and sources in West Yorkshire have indicated that a deal would be brokered in a matter of days if a fee could be agreed, but both clubs’ unwillingness to budge has complicated matters.
Indeed, United now face fresh competition in the form of Everton, who The Journal understands are monitoring the situation with a view to a bid later in the month.
Despite his transfer request being made public this week, Beckford will start for Leeds against Wycombe in League One this weekend and the Elland Road club are relaxed about keeping him past the end of the month despite his desire to move on.
Hughton is prepared to see how the situation pans out but does not want to wait until the end of the month to land striker reinforcements – and Newcastle’s back-up plan is to go back to Aston Villa’s Harewood, who ended his loan spell at St James’ Park in fine form.
The big striker is interesting Hull City and West Ham, but Hughton’s decision to look at other targets has not dulled Harewood’s enthusiasm for a return, according to his agent Phil Sproson.
“Marlon has made his feelings clear and that is if Chris (Hughton) said he wanted him back, he would go back to Newcastle in a second,” he told The Journal. “Whatever has been said about who Newcastle are after hasn’t really changed his mind. He loved it there and was getting better with more games. He wants to come back and I think he thinks that he has done enough to justify being considered for a move back to Newcastle.”
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