Kinnear Hopeful of Keeping Barton As Newcastle Reject Bolton's £2m Bid
Newcastle United set a £6.5m price tag on Joey Barton as Portsmouth prepare an offer
Newcastle United yesterday rejected a £2m bid for Joey Barton from Bolton Wanderers but are understood to be willing to sell the midfielder for £6.5m. Although Joe Kinnear is desperate to keep Barton, Mike Ashley, the club's owner, does not entirely share his manager's enthusiasm for a player who has spent part of his Newcastle tenure in prison serving time for assault.
Should Barton – currently recovering from a knee injury – depart Tyneside by the end of this month it is safe to assume that relations between Kinnear and his board could become strained, particularly as central midfield has long been Newcastle's weakest, most thinly staffed, area.
Bolton's offer was an initial £2m rising to £3m, with the further £1m to follow provided certain provisos were met, but the St James' Park board is expecting a higher bid to be shortly submitted by Portsmouth. Coincidentally, much to Kevin Keegan's chagrin, Newcastle attempted to sell Barton to Portsmouth behind their former manager's back on the final day of the last transfer window.
Tony Adams has identified Barton as an ideal replacement for Lassana Diarra and Pompey are understood to be preparing a formal offer. Adams, like Kinnear, is concerned about his team's engine room and has had a £4.5m bid for the former Fratton Park midfielder Gary O'Neil rejected by Middlesbrough.
O'Neil's wife has failed to settle in the north-east and Boro are likely to allow him to leave during the summer but Portsmouth's manager cannot afford to wait another six months to fill the gap left by Diarra's defection to Real Madrid and will now turn to both Barton and Edu. The latter, a former Arsenal midfielder, is at Valencia but Portsmouth are exploring the possibility of taking him on loan from the La Liga side until the end of the season.
Adams sees Barton as a longer-term signing. With the 26-year-old having received treatment for his alcohol and behavioral issues in the Sporting Chance clinic established by the former England defender, Portsmouth would certainly not be signing an unknown quantity.
Meanwhile Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, is similarly undaunted by Barton's history and attempted, forlornly, to prise him from Newcastle last summer.
If Barton, who cost Newcastle £5.8m when Sam Allardyce signed him 18 months ago, – established as a firm favorite of Kinnear's who has likened him affectionately to his former Wimbledon protege Vinnie Jones – does not lack admirers, he is, realistically, unlikely to command a fee of £6.5m. Although his undoubted ability and the fact that there are more than three years remaining on his contract would normally place Barton in that bracket, his extremely checkered recent past suggests that £3m might be a more viable valuation.
Certainly it is thought that Portsmouth would not be willing to go any higher than the £4.5m they offered for O'Neil.
Ashley, meanwhile, is still sore that, for legal reasons, he was unable to cut significantly Barton's £65,000 weekly wages when the player was released from prison last summer and would be happy to now see him removed from the payroll.
Barton has not played for Newcastle since the home draw against Wigan Athletic on 15 November when a tackle from Lee Cattermole left him with damaged knee ligaments. Kinnear initially feared Barton would be on the sidelines until early March but he is now expected to return at the end of this month.
Should Barton – currently recovering from a knee injury – depart Tyneside by the end of this month it is safe to assume that relations between Kinnear and his board could become strained, particularly as central midfield has long been Newcastle's weakest, most thinly staffed, area.
Bolton's offer was an initial £2m rising to £3m, with the further £1m to follow provided certain provisos were met, but the St James' Park board is expecting a higher bid to be shortly submitted by Portsmouth. Coincidentally, much to Kevin Keegan's chagrin, Newcastle attempted to sell Barton to Portsmouth behind their former manager's back on the final day of the last transfer window.
Tony Adams has identified Barton as an ideal replacement for Lassana Diarra and Pompey are understood to be preparing a formal offer. Adams, like Kinnear, is concerned about his team's engine room and has had a £4.5m bid for the former Fratton Park midfielder Gary O'Neil rejected by Middlesbrough.
O'Neil's wife has failed to settle in the north-east and Boro are likely to allow him to leave during the summer but Portsmouth's manager cannot afford to wait another six months to fill the gap left by Diarra's defection to Real Madrid and will now turn to both Barton and Edu. The latter, a former Arsenal midfielder, is at Valencia but Portsmouth are exploring the possibility of taking him on loan from the La Liga side until the end of the season.
Adams sees Barton as a longer-term signing. With the 26-year-old having received treatment for his alcohol and behavioral issues in the Sporting Chance clinic established by the former England defender, Portsmouth would certainly not be signing an unknown quantity.
Meanwhile Gary Megson, the Bolton manager, is similarly undaunted by Barton's history and attempted, forlornly, to prise him from Newcastle last summer.
If Barton, who cost Newcastle £5.8m when Sam Allardyce signed him 18 months ago, – established as a firm favorite of Kinnear's who has likened him affectionately to his former Wimbledon protege Vinnie Jones – does not lack admirers, he is, realistically, unlikely to command a fee of £6.5m. Although his undoubted ability and the fact that there are more than three years remaining on his contract would normally place Barton in that bracket, his extremely checkered recent past suggests that £3m might be a more viable valuation.
Certainly it is thought that Portsmouth would not be willing to go any higher than the £4.5m they offered for O'Neil.
Ashley, meanwhile, is still sore that, for legal reasons, he was unable to cut significantly Barton's £65,000 weekly wages when the player was released from prison last summer and would be happy to now see him removed from the payroll.
Barton has not played for Newcastle since the home draw against Wigan Athletic on 15 November when a tackle from Lee Cattermole left him with damaged knee ligaments. Kinnear initially feared Barton would be on the sidelines until early March but he is now expected to return at the end of this month.
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