Here are the major news stories associated with the Newcastle club for today – in no particular order of priority.

The good news is that it looks like we’ve signed Geremi for ₤2M from Chelsea and the deal will be completed this afternoon. And we all thought it was a free transfer – turns out we think he still had one year left on his contract.

Looks like Sam moved quickly to cement the deal once he heard Aston Villa were interested in him. Good work Sam.

Really good news today is that we are wrapping up the singing of Geremi from Chelsea for ₤2M. The deal will be completed this afternoon but looks like Sam moved quickly to cement the deal once he heard that Aston Villa were interested in him. While it had always been reported that it was a free transfer – it looks like Geremi signed a 5 year deal in 2003 and still had one year left on his contract. We’ll find out for sure before the day is out. Good utility signing for Newcastle – at the very least – but Geremi adds good experience to our defense.

GeremiWe also have a story out today where we believe that Sam’s targets also include Edmilson and Gudjohnsen and that Sam wants to sign both of them as soon as possible. We don’t believe the news that he is only after Gudjohnsen if Owen or Martins leave. There does seem to be competition from AC Milan but we think Edmilson has already been convinced on Newcastle by Sam. If he does choose Milan (we don’t think this will happen) we wouldn’t want him because he would have gone back on his word. The deal may be better than we thought – the latest fee being quoted for Gudjohnsen is a low ₤4.5M and we think the Edmilson deal will be for a nominal fee.

EdmilsonOther good news today that Michale Owen appears to be committed to Newcastle. If we were sceptical and cynical we’d say this was expected since no major club has moved for him since it was announced he had a release clause in his contract in mid-May. But we think he means it but there will be those who still think he will move in January if one of the top four come in for him. We really hope Newcastle will be in a good league position by then and that Michael has even agreed to re-write – and extend – his current contract. We also think Martins will stay at the club.

Michael OwenOur sister site SoccerLens has a piece in whether Owen and Martins will stay at Newcastle. They have also initiated a forum for discussion of the articles so feel free to express your opinions on this article. There’s also an article on Big Sam on the same site – you may want to take a look at it. Here is a link also to the new Soccerlens forum.

Oba MartinsAn article in the Mirror suggests that Blackburn will win the race for Maceo Rigters from NAC Breda for a very low 350K. While it seems a great deal for the money we are nor sure we need another striker because we feel Sam wants Gudjohnsen who is a proven Premiership pl;ayer. Very good deal for Blackburn – if it comes off.

Maceo RigtersFinally here’s some quotes from the football world to lighten up the day.