Magpies move to kill Dyer story

Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd today moved to quash once and for all talk that he is prepared to sell Kieron Dyer to Manchester United.

Shepherd’s move follows another weekend of frenzied speculation over the 24-year-old England international’s future after Shepherd and his deputy Douglas Hall jetted out of Kuala Lumpur and headed to Los Angeles.

The rumours had gained fresh momentum when the Magpies hierarchy flew into California, where the Old Trafford club are currently based, and it was revealed that they were due to attend, as guests, the Red Devils’ clash with Mexican side Club America early this morning.

However, Shepherd, who last week warned new Chelsea owner Roman Ambramovich that even he did not have enough roubles to buy Dyer, told The Journal: “We have no intention of selling Kieron Dyer.

“I am not here to talk to Manchester United about Kieron Dyer or any other players. We are a building team, not a selling team.

“I am here for commercial reasons only. Details of that will be revealed at a later date. My being here has nothing to do with the football side of things.

“It (the speculation) is all getting a bit boring for everybody. I just seem to be repeating myself.

“I just want to reiterate that we are not selling anyone – least of all Kieron Dyer.”

The speculation began last weekend when newspaper reports claimed that Chelsea were ready to launch a bid to snatch Dyer from Bobby Robson’s grasp, and that that would rekindle Manchester United’s long-standing interest in the former Ipswich midfielder.

Robson and Shepherd, who nevertheless admitted that he would have to consider a “ridiculous” offer, moved to pour could water on the matter by insisting that Dyer was not for sale, prompting the player himself to confirm that he had no intention of leaving St James’ Park.

The whole issue blew up again on Friday evening when it was revealed that Shepherd and Hall had flown to the United States.

However, PA Sport understands that the trip, far from being a spur of the moment affair, was actually arranged several weeks ago.

Dyer was used as a second-half substitute in yesterday’s FA Premier League Asia Cup Final clash with Chelsea and scored one of his side’s penalties as they went down 5-4 in a shoot-out following a 0-0 draw.