Newcastle play waiting game on Figo

NEWCASTLE will take their time as they contemplate a move for Portuguese star Luis Figo.

Manager Graeme Souness yesterday confirmed the club are interested in the 32-year-old Real Madrid star, although he declined to elaborate on the situation.

“There is an interest there as far as Luis Figo is concerned, but we do not want to say any more at the moment,” said the Scot.

Newcastle have spoken to the player’s representatives and are aware he is keen to test himself in the Premiership after finding himself surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu Stadium despite having a year left on his lucrative contract.

However, suggestions that talks are at an advanced stage are wide of the mark with the player’s wages - thought to amount to £4.6m a year - potentially a major problem.

That would shatter the club’s pay structure; it is way in excess of what they paid Patrick Kluivert last season and what they have agreed with £6.5m signing Scott Parker.

A deal which would hand the former Barcelona midfielder a one-year contract with a two-year option for both parties - similar to the arrangement on which Kluivert arrived at St James’ Park last summer - has been mooted, although with Liverpool, Bolton and Galatasaray among a number of clubs which have expressed an interest in Figo without making a decisive move, there is still much to discuss.

However, sources at St James’ Park have hinted the club will bide their time as several options are explored, and that nothing is imminent either with the Portuguese international or Inter Milan midfielder Belozoglu Emre.

The Turkish international is due to return from a week’s holiday tomorrow when he will discuss the options on offer with his agent Ahmet Bulut, who revealed last week that six Premiership clubs are among those chasing his signature.

Elsewhere, the Magpies are continuing their efforts to offload Figo’s compatriot Hugo Viana and Craig Bellamy, understood to be a target for Everton, although Aston Villa boss David O’Leary yesterday dismissed speculation linking him with a move for Lee Bowyer, whose proposed move to Birmingham fell through last week.

Former Newcastle defender and West Ham manager Glenn Roeder was yesterday handed a return to Tyneside when he was appointed as the club’s Academy manager.