ARSENAL and West Ham United are ready to test Newcastle United’s resolve to keep first-choice defensive pairing Sébastien Bassong and Steven Taylor by formalising their interest in the duo imminently.
Hopes are rising that the uncertainty which has surrounded the club’s future since relegation to the Championship will lift in the next few days – with “decisive” movement expected on the unresolved ownership and management issues before the start of pre-season training next week. Both serious bidders favour Alan Shearer’s claims to be manager which should pave the way for his belated appointment – but his first task will be to ward off interest in Bassong and Taylor.
West Ham, who have former Newcastle number two Steve Clarke on their coaching staff, are at the head of a clutch of clubs interested in Taylor, while Arsenal are keen on Frenchman Bassong.
Provided Shearer becomes manager and offers certain reassurances to Taylor, Newcastle have a good chance of retaining the services of their influential homegrown defender, who has told friends he has no desire to leave the club.
But any further delay in appointing a new manager and United must brace themselves for the imminent departure of the 23-year-old, who will be aware that the constant upheaval at the club over the last three years has damaged his career.
Bassong’s future is far less clear-cut, however, and The Journal understands that the defender has been flattered by interest from compatriot Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
The former Metz man has seen his stock rise sharply since joining United as a relative unknown last season.
And, while he feels a sense of gratitude to the club for handing him his break in English football, he is ambitious and is reluctant to play a season in the second tier. He has already publicly courted a move away from St James’s Park and Shearer will face a serious test of his powers of persuasion if he wants to keep the newly-capped Cameroon defender.
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