bawan 0 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 NEWCASTLE United are keeping tabs on a player once dubbed “the bad boy of Brazilian football”. Technical director Jeff Vetere travelled to Spain at the weekend to run the rule over Sevilla’s 27-year-old striker Luis Fabiano – and saw him grab the winner in a 2-1 victory over Levante – one of 20 goals he has scored this season. And this after Vetere had been to a youth tournament in La Manga the day before. If United decide they would like to splash out the cash for Fabiano, they have a key man in the form of player recruitment big-wig Tony Jimenez, who has strong links with Sevilla. For although Jimenez was born in Brixton, his family come from Seville and he is credited with being the driving force when Spurs went for the La Liga outfit’s Juande Ramos, who was replaced as caretaker boss by Manolo Jimenez. But at the same time, United will have no chance if Fabiano listens to his Sevilla striking partner Freddy Kanoute, who was known to dread trips to Tyneside because of the weather. To be fair to Messrs Jimenez, Wise and Vetere, while Kevin Keegan is doing his best to keep United in the Premier League, they are all looking for talent after the inevitable St James’s Park clear-out in the summer. United parted company with chief scout Steve Walsh last night, and I understand the club are set to bring in a foreign scout to fill the vacancy to ensure they don’t miss out on any European talent. The Chronicle reported last Saturday that Wise and Jimenez had been in France to look at St Etienne’s 22-year-old striker Bafetimbi Gomis – the man hailed as the next Didier Drogba. But United know they would face a lot of competition for Gomis, with Arsenal ready to step up their interest following the bad injury to Eduardo. However, with Jimenez’s help, they could have better luck with Fabiano, who has also had spells with Rennes, Sao Paulo and FC Porto. It was while he was with Sao Paulo that Fabiano was labelled the bad boy of Brazilian football after a number of brawls, including one incident when he studded a player just below the neck. But he has strength on the ball, plenty of pace, and knows where the goal is – and was one of the marksmen in Sevilla’s 4-0 victory over Middlesbrough in the 2006 UEFA Cup final. He has a year left on his contract and a holding company owns 35% of his contract. United are certainly doing their homework, and it looks as though they are going to challenge Rafael Benitez and Liverpool for the top players in Spain because of the Tony Jimenez connection, although there will now obviously be competition from Ramos and Spurs. Meanwhile, United are still hoping to sign Bournemouth striker Sam Vogts, even though there has been a development on the south coast. Administrator Gerald Krasner has accepted an offer for the club, but while United still want to go ahead with their £250,000 bid – and lend the Welsh Under-21 star back to the League One outfit – the new owners are expected to try and squeeze more money out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6702 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Am I the only one who's sceptical about us sourcing players plying their trade in Spain? We haven't exactly got a good track record.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Am I the only one who's sceptical about us sourcing players plying their trade in Spain? We haven't exactly got a good track record.... Why? With our form in recent years you could argue the same about most countries inlcuding England, our recent buys of Barton, Smith, Viduka, Duff, Babayaro, Faye etc have been equally as poor.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Row Z 0 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Fabiano's a great player! Unfortunately i could see him becoming the next Luque if he signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11080 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Who is Jeff Vetere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acrossthepond 900 Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 Fabiano is great...in Spain. Sad that we always have to add that disclaimer. It sounds like our scouts are actually earning their pay, at least, so we can take a positive from this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7318 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Every club in Europe is after him! We havent a hope in hell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12496 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 Class player in spain. A truely woeful fighter though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triggy99 0 Posted March 16, 2008 Share Posted March 16, 2008 should the thread topic not be 'United hunt Brazil nancy boy'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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