Newcastle bid to tie up Onyewu deal

Newcastle were tonight working to tie up their loan swoop for United States defender Oguchi Onyewu after he arrived on Tyneside for a medical.

The 24-year-old Standard Liege player flew into England as manager Glenn Roeder closed in on one of the two temporary signings he hopes to make before Wednesday’s transfer window deadline.

His arrival was confirmed by the Magpies, who are also trying to capture St Etienne striker Frederic Piquionne, 28, although both the Belgian and French clubs are understood to be keen to secure deals which will become permanent in the summer.

It is not the first time Onyewu has visited the north-east to discuss a move having been courted by Middlesbrough before they opted to sign both Jonathan Woodgate and Robert Huth last summer.

The son of Nigerian parents, he was born in Washington DC and played college football before winning a move to French side Metz in 2002.

He was loaned to Belgian club La Louviere in 2003 and Standard a year later before earning a permanent switch to the Liege club.

Onyewu made his international debut against Panama in October 2004 and was part of the US team that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup the following year and played in last summer’s World Cup finals in Germany.

He was voted the Jupiler League’s foreign player of the year in 2005 and the US Soccer Federation's Soccer Athlete of the Year last year.

With Peter Ramage injured and Titus Bramble, Stephen Carr and Celestine Babayaro all on the way back to fitness, Roeder desperately needs defensive reinforcements, and with little or no hard cash to spend, a loan signing is his only real option.

Onyewu may not have got his move to Boro, but he has also been linked with Chelsea, Manchester United, Fulham and Marseille in recent times.

Meanwhile, Magpies striker Shola Ameobi has revealed the hip injury which might have cost him in career left him in tears after games.

The 25-year-old travelled back to America for a progress report from surgeon Marc Philippon last week and has been given the go-ahead to step up his training.

He still faces a long haul back to fitness which is likely to sideline him for several months yet, but he is happy simply to be pain free and looking at a future in the game.

Ameobi told the club’s official website, www.nufc.co.uk: “I was in tears after matches, at times, with the pain. It is not something I would wish on anyone.

“People do not see that. When you are out there and they see you on the pitch, they expect that you are fit.

“That was not the case. I was not at liberty to talk about it at the time because I wanted to play. I look back now and I am just thankful that Dr Philippon has been able to put me right because if I had left it any longer, he said it might have gone too far for him to put everything right in there.

“I am thankful, and this should be the end of my pain.”

Ameobi, who had five goals to his name when he was forced to admit defeat in his bid to play through the pain, has had to sit by and watch £10m (€15m) man Obafemi Martins overtake him, and has been hugely impressed by the 22-year-old.

He said: “What Oba has done this season has been remarkable because it is not easy to come from another league, as we all know. He is such a great talent, he is such a great player and he scores goals, as he has shown us.

“Some of the goals he has scored this season have been fantastic, and there is so much more to come.

“He has got to understand the game and it will take a season or two to do that. But what he has done already has been remarkable. I know we are all delighted with him and the manager and the chairman are delighted.”