Source: Daily_Mail
£4m Damien Duff heading for Fulham amid Newcastle turmoil
[LNB] [LNB]Target: Duff is the subject of a £4m offer[LNB]Mike Ashley's failureto sell Newcastlehas prompted furtherfall-out, withsenior players saidto be disillusioned, DamienDuff contemplating a move to Fulham and a steady flow ofmoney placed on a return forJoe Kinnear on Thursday. [LNB]Newcastle have received a £4millionbid for Duff from a Barclays PremierLeague club, Duff having rejected thechance of moving to Olympiakos. [LNB]RoyHodgson's Fulham are favourites,though the Republic of Irelandmidfielder may also be tempted bythe idea of linking up again with formerRepublic manager MickMcCarthy at Wolves.[LNB] Hull City arealso interested.With Everton having asked aboutSteven Taylor's availability,Newcastle's squad suddenly lookvulnerable to Premier League clubs. [LNB]Duff, 30, cost £5m when he joinedNewcastle from Chelsea three yearsago.[LNB] He has played under five managersin that time and two caretakermanagers, and the present temporaryappointment, Chris Hughton,said Newcastle would haveto enter the transfer market quicklyif more players leave.[LNB]Since the end of last season theyhave lost Michael Owen, MarkViduka, Obafemi Martins, SebastienBassong, Habib Beye, ClaudioCacapa, Peter Lovenkrands andDavid Edgar. [LNB]The priority has beento cut the wage bill but Hughtonknows a core must be retained whocan mount a promotion challenge. [LNB]He said: 'There's no doubt, if wewere to lose players, replacementswould have to be brought in.'[LNB]But Hughton added that therehave been no discussions withmanaging director Derek Llambiasabout recruitment. [LNB] Second coming: Kinnear has been heavily linked with a return to Newcastle[LNB]'We have spokenbut all the efforts from the club havebeen in selling the club.' [LNB]Taylor's description of Newcastlelast Saturday as 'a joke' revealed the home-grown centre half's intentions.[LNB]Everton are seeking such a defenderand are understood to have pulledback from signing Philippe Senderos.[LNB]Taylor wants Alan Shearerappointed but there was no freshnews on that front.[LNB]'The sooner thereis a line drawn on the situation thebetter for everybody,' Hughton saidof the potential sale. [LNB]David O'Leary had been soundedout by Llambias were the club to betaken off the market again by Ashley. [LNB]The Irishman is thought to be keenbut the odds being cut on Thursdaywere Kinnear's, even though it is onlya week since he said he would not befit enough to be a manager untilaround October. [LNB]A large fan backlash would beexpected should Kinnear return. [LNB]Asit is, Newcastle may attract a crowdof fewer than 32,000 to St James'Park for the Championship visit ofReading tomorrow. If so, that wouldbe the club's lowest league crowd formore than 15 years.[LNB] West Ham close in on Arsenal target Marouane Chamakh by offering 50 per cent sell-on clause for Bordeaux strikerHangeland happy at Fulham as Arsenal stalk their £15m Norway defender FULHAM FC
