Newcastle reject Bolton bid for Joey Barton

09 January 2009 11:18
Bolton have joined Portsmouth in the race to sign the 26-year-old, who is still recovering from a knee injury. [LNB]Newcastle have already rejected one bid from Gary Megson's Bolton but are willing to offload the controversial midfielder at the right price, claim the Guardian[LNB]. [LNB]St James' Park manager Joe Kinnear would like to retain the services of Barton, yet it is believed that owner Mike Ashley would prefer to cash in on a player who has spent a part of his Newcastle tenure in prison. [LNB]Bolton are said to have tabled a £2m bid, with a further £1m to follow if certain conditions were met. It is expected, however, that Portsmouth will return with a higher bid for the former Manchester City player.[LNB]Tony Adams has indentified Barton as the ideal replacement for Lassana Diarra. He would also bolster a midfield which will be without Pape Bouba Diop, who has been ruled out of action for three months through injury. [LNB]Newcastle paid £5.8 million for Barton 18 months ago but the player has been plagued by injury and controversy. Last summer the former England international served 74 days of a six-month prison sentence for affray and assault. He was also given a suspended six-month and six-match ban for a training-ground assault on former City team-mate Ousmane Dabo. [LNB]His past behaviour is unlikely to ward off Adams, who knows the player well through the Sporting Chance clinic which the former Arsenal captain established. [LNB]Equally, Megson is not deterred by Barton's previous misdemeanours and tried to sign him only last summer. [LNB]Barton, who has not played since Newcastle's home draw against Wigan on Nov 15, is expected to make a faster than expected return from injury at the end of the month. Given Bolton and Portsmouth's interest, however, the player may have already played his last game for the club. [LNB]

Source: Telegraph