BERNIE SLAVEN

THERE’S no way in this world I would sell Adam Johnson now. We have got a paper thin squad as it is at Middlesbrough and I keep reading that Gordon Strachan is looking to bring in three players from Celtic.

If he is successful in doing that then what would be the point in selling Adam Johnson? It would be a great bit of business with Celtic, but then to lose your best player, who has ten goals, sends out the wrong signals.

It would be ludicrous to sell him and I just hope Gordon Strachan manages to keep hold of him. It doesn’t matter what offer comes in, I would keep him until the summer and hope for a sudden change of heart on the contract front.

It’s a Catch 22 situation. I can’t believe they have allowed his contract to run down. It’s a double-edged sword in the respect that if you don’t sell him now he will leave for nothing in the summer – or for peanuts, anyway.

But from my point of view if they sold him now I don’t think there would be any guarantees that Strachan would see all of the money for new players anyway.

If I were a businessman at the club then great, it would be great business.

But I’m a fan, like thousands of others, and we want Middlesbrough back in the Premier League. We should keep him.

MALCOLM MACDONALD

THAT would be an emphatic no. We are talking saleable assets, so why would we sell any of them off at this stage? They need to complete the job they have started, all of them.

They are in the process of helping Newcastle get back into the Premier League, so keep them.

Plus, from another perspective, if you look at the values of each player, if Newcastle get promoted then in six months their values will have soared because they can then be regarded as Premier League footballers again.

I’m talking about everyone in the first team, even the kids, I’d keep them all – except Geremi. He can go. I don’t think he can help the promotion push at all and he’s on big wages. Those wages could go on a new player.

It might seem a strange choice but I think Jose Enrique is probably the most saleable asset at the club right now.

Enrique is young, he’s good at defending as a left-back and good at going forward as a left-back. There’s huge value in left-footers because there aren’t too many good ones around and we have one of them.

In the summer there will be players who aren’t good enough to step into the Premier League if Newcastle go up. But they will be worth more money then than they are now.

Then we could sell a few and replace them with better.

MICKY HORSWILL

KENWYNE JONES is our top man and we should keep him as long as we can.

We are only five or six points above the relegation zone – again. Why would we want to lose our best players?

It would be a big mistake by Steve Bruce if he decided to sell Kenwyne at this stage.

He might not work as hard as Darren Bent but when he plays he takes the pressure off Darren with his own style.

Kenwyne and Darren have developed a great partnership in six months and it will only get better if they keep playing together and have more time together.

If it wasn’t for their goals this season Sunderland would be in an even worse position.

I can’t see the sense in allowing him to leave, so I hope Steve keeps hold of him.

It is like in the summer.

When Steve (Bruce) let Danny Collins go for £3m I didn’t think it made sense and the defence hasn’t been right since. I fear the same would happen if we let Kenwyne go.

I have read £11m for Kenwyne, which is a lot of money. But tell me who we could bring in – I don’t know much about Kevin Kuranyi – who would be as equipped for the Premier League as Kenwyne is for less than £11m?

Our problem is not scoring goals, it is the defence, so why risk breaking up a partnership which works, even if we get a lot of money for him.

He might be lackadaisical but he’s definitely a player worth keeping.

The Legends were speaking to Paul Fraser. Listen to The Legends weekdays 6-8pm and Saturdays from 1pm on 100-102FM Real Radio Read their views every Saturday in Northern Echo Sport.