Woodgate close to Spurs switch

JONATHAN WOODGATE should complete his €12million move to Tottenham Hotspur within 24 hours after passing a medical at the club’s Chigwell training ground yesterday.

The Middlesbrough defender had been expected to join Newcastle before the weekend and officials from the Tyneside club were confident they would unveil the player today.

But Woodgate, 28, appears to have had a dramatic change of heart on Saturday. The England centre-half, who spent an injury-plagued two-year spell on Tyneside before leaving for Real Madrid in 2005, is believed to have told Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan before his team’s match with Arsenal that the lure of European football and a possible Carling Cup winner’s medal with Spurs were too strong to resist.