 NEWCASTLE United, having completed the signings of Jonas Gutierrez and Fabricio Coloccini, are now trying to bring a THIRD Argentinian to St James’s Park. For the word coming out of Spain is that United are interested in Real Madrid’s exciting striker Javier Saviola and that they are hoping to ship him in on loan. And the men behind the move, United’s vice-president Tony Jimenez and technical director Jeff Vetere, are hoping to cash in on their Spanish connections to pull off a deal that would really excite the United fans. Jimenez’s family roots are in Seville, while, before joining United, Vetere worked for Real Madrid. After unveiling Coloccini yesterday, Kevin Keegan stressed United were still on the look-out for quality players and Saviola certainly comes into this category. He is still only 26 but seems to have been on the go for ages and this is not surprising as he made his debut for River Plate in his native Buenos Aires as a 16-year-old. Barcelona were happy to take him to the Nou Camp and he came on as a substitute for Dani against United in a Champions League second stage game in Spain back in 2002. While at Barcelona, Saviola went out on loan to Monaco and Sevilla. And when his deal at the Nou Camp ran out in 2007, Saviola switched to Real Madrid in the summer of 2007 and he is under contract at the Bernabeu until 2011. However, Saviola only made nine La Liga starts for Real Madrid last season, scoring three goals. And while Gutierrez and Coloccini have been named in an Argentina squad made up of European-based players for Wednesday’s friendly with Belarus in Minsk, Saviola is not in it. Throughout his career he has been known as El Conejito, the Little Rabbit, and if United can get him into a black-and-white shirt, then, with the pace of Oba Martins and Gutierrez, a few opposing defences would be caught in the Newcastle headlights this season. While Messrs Jimenez and Vetere are tracking Saviola, director of football Dennis Wise has given Ipswich Town permission to talk to Shola Ameobi and it is now up to the striker whether he goes to Portman Road. Ameobi, of course, played under Glenn Roeder at St James’s Park and in the same United team as Lee Clark, now at Norwich City. But Ameobi is on £15,000 a week with United, and this – and the transfer fee – are way out of the Canaries’ budget. However, United are likely to reduce their wage bill even further with the £2m transfer of Abdoulaye Faye to Stoke City going through over the weekend. The Chronicle reported Stoke’s interest on Wednesday, and perhaps significantly Keegan’s praise of Claudio Capaca yesterday, and the way the Brazilian international linked up with Steven Taylor at the heart of the defence in the pre-season games, has made it easier for United to cash in on the Senegalese international. | 
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