Keegan faces fight for Baptista
8:25am Saturday 28th June 2008
By Paul Fraser »
NEWCASTLE UNITED have been offered Real Madrid's Julio Baptista, but there is also strong interest in him from Italy.
Real are trying to offload the £10m-rated Brazilian attacking midfielder as they try to raise more cash before making a formal bid for Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is understood the Magpies, whose head of recruitment, Jeff Vetere, was a scout at Real Madrid during 2006-07, are one of a number of Premier League clubs to have been alerted to his availability.
Baptista's agents, Juan Figger and Herminio Menendez, have been informed he is not wanted by manager Bernd Schuster.
Tottenham are among the clubs contacted, although manager Juande Ramos has dismissed the prospect of signing him, while Blackburn are keen but unable to match his wages.
In Italy, both Roma and Fiorentina are ready to compete for his services.
Baptista, who spent the 2006- 07 season on loan from Arsenal, said: "I have a deal with Real but if the coach is not interested in keeping me, it would be better for me to negotiate a solution to leave. But I will always decide the destination for me."
Newcastle are due back for pre-season training on July 7 and it appears their recruitment drive is still in neutral.
There remains interest in Manchester United defender Jonny Evans, although Keegan would have to persuade Sir Alex Ferguson to part and, if he did, then it would be a battle with the club where he has spent part of the last two seasons on loan, Sunderland.
Newcastle, meanwhile, have lined up Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven for a pre-season friendly at St James's Park on August 6. The Magpies will take on Valencia on August 9 at St James', which comes after a preseason tournament in Mallorca, when they play Hertha Berlin on August 1 and then hosts Real Mallorca on August 3, with Bundesliga outfit Hannover 96 making up the four-team competition.
Keegan's men play Hartlepool on July 19 (3pm) and go to Doncaster a week later.
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