A source “close to Kinnear” has denied reports that Newcastle United’s Director of Football Joe Kinnear was “interested in signing” a Newcastle player currently on loan at Birmingham City.
Alan Oliver writes in the Sunday People that Kinnear enquired about the transfer availability of City’s Shane Ferguson after watching the player perform well in Birmingham’s Capital One Cup clash at home to Swansea City in September.
The former Newcastle United and Wimbledon manager was said to have been unaware that the midfielder was currently on loan from St James’ Park until the end of the season.
The paper quotes “a City source” as saying:
Ferguson had a particularly good game that night and Joe Kinnear told one of our officials he was interested in signing him.
At first our guy thought he was joking but then he realised Kinnear did not know Ferguson was already a Newcastle player.
Mirror Online add that:
Newcastle chiefs and manager Alan Pardew, who saw his side beat Chelsea 2-0 yesterday, were said not to be aware of Kinnear’s blunder.
However Sky Tyne and Wear are now claiming that these reports have been “rubbished” by a “source close to Kinnear” and that “a conversation never took place”:
A source close to Kinnear though says that such a conversation never took place.
Joe Kinnear was controversially given the role of Director of Football at Newcastle United earlier this year and his appointment not been tremendously popular with the fans…
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