Newcastle transfer link Jermaine Beckford
DOB 9 Dec 1983 POB England Pos. Striker Club Leeds Utd Hgt 6.02

Newcastle United remain confident they can complete the signing of the Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford. Chris Hughton, the Newcastle manager, has reportedly already had a £1.25m bid turned down for the 26-year-old, whose 20th goal of the season sent Manchester United tumbling out of the FA Cup on Sunday.

Leeds have maintained their desire to hold on to Beckford, yet it is believed on Tyneside that a bid in the region of £3m would be enough to force a sale. "I wasn't at Old Trafford to see Jermaine, and there's no deal done yet," said Hughton. "All we can say is that we're working very hard on bringing in new players, and I'm very confident that we'll get them.

"We have to be patient, and there's a long month ahead of us, but we won't panic. His profile now goes up, because the game was on TV, but everybody knows that this is just one game, and whether he'd done well or badly, he'd still be a talented player. He's one of a few players we're interested in."

Newcastle – held to a goalless draw by Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third-round tie on Saturday – have not scored since the loan signing Marlon Harewood returned to Aston Villa.

"We're in for a striker, but this is nothing to do with the fact we haven't scored for two games," said Hughton.

"With Marlon Harewood now gone, we always had to bring in another striker, and that's what we will be striving to do."