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Keeper set to fly Magpies nest - Boss
Newcastle United, 17:41, January 28, 2009 ,
Joe Kinnear has virtually confirmed that Shay Given will quit Newcastle for Man City after revealing the player wants a new challenge.
Reports at the start of the week were adamant that the 32-year-old Republic of Ireland international would be on his way to Eastlands in a deal worth around £10million to the Magpies.
However assistant boss Chris Hughton scotched those suggestions and played down the significance of Newcastle's second-choice keeper Steve Harper being awarded a new contract to keep him at St James' Park until summer 2012 on Tuesday. But Kinnear has spoken out on Wednesday, ahead of his side's Premier League clash at City, to finally admit that Given's 12-year stint on Tyneside looks to be coming to a close, while the player has reportedly not even travelled with the squad to the north-west.
"I've bent over backwards to keep Shay, and I have told the powers that be that he has got to stay," Kinnear told the Evening Chronicle.
"But I understand it from Shay's point of view. He wants to leave, but I have tried my hardest to make him stay.
"He's done 11 years here at Newcastle and I think he wants a new challenge.
"I left Shay with Mike Ashley, Derek Llambias and Michael Kennedy, and the talks went on for a few hours.
"It's out of my hands and I am still waiting for the final outcome, but I think he wants a new challenge and that he wants to speak to Manchester City.
"I would be heartbroken to see him go because he is one of the best keepers in the world. But Man City keep banging on the door to talk to him."