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• Reports linked Alan Pardew with cut-price bid for Carroll
• Newcastle sources deny making contact with Liverpool

Newcastle United have dismissed speculation that their former striker Andy Carroll could make a cut-price return to Tyneside.

Reports had linked the club with a £10m deal for the 23-year-old England international, who has disappointed in his first 12 months at Liverpool following his £35m move.

However, sources in the north-east have insisted there has been no contact between the two clubs, despite weeks of speculation. Carroll’s representatives, meanwhile, say they have not been told that Liverpool are looking to sell him, and they themselves are not seeking a move. His agent Mark Curtis told the BBC: “Andy is happy at Liverpool.”

Alan Pardew’s need to add a new striker to his Newcastle squad may depend on the future of the Senegal international Demba Ba, who made a big impact before his departure for the Africa Cup of Nations. Ba has a release-clause in his contract, which has prompted speculation of a January move.

Pardew has renewed his interest in the Paris St Germain forward Mevlut Erding, who was a target throughout last summer. Negotiations for the Turkey international broke down, but Newcastle remain interested.

Pardew is also understood to be keen to secure a central defender, with Steven Taylor’s season-ending Achilles injury further exposing their lack of strength in depth in that department.

Andy CarrollNewcastle UnitedLiverpoolTransfer windowguardian.co.uk

Today’s fluff still loves Shine 97

It’s Monday morning at 5.19, and the Mill is still wondering where you’ve been. Because every time we try to call, we just get your machine. And now it’s almost 6am, and we don’t want to try again. Because if you’re still not back, heaven knows, what then? Maybe we can distract ourselves with some tittle-tattle (and try to forget the fact that a) the Mill was struggling so badly for a riff this morning that we resorted to simply typing the lyrics of Rialto’s 1997 hit Monday Morning 5:19 and b) that we didn’t need to look the lyrics up).

Manchester United and Everton are battling it out to sign Bob Schepers, who sounds like he should be presenting a documentary about farming on Radio 4, but is in fact a 17-year-old Dutch winger for SC Cambuur. He played in Holland U17’s run to the European Championship final, and is also making a small blipping noise “on Ajax’s radar”.

Chelsea have £50m to spend this summer and it’ll all go on Kaká. Or Fernando Torres. Or Sergio Agüero. Or Bastian Schweinsteiger. Or possibly Dani Alves, who has also been linked with Manchester City in the Spanish newspaper Sport.

Liverpool have dipped for the line and pipped Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal in the race for Charlton’s Jonjo Shelvey. As Rafa Benítez waves to the crowd from the top of the podium, a faceless man in a suit hands him a bunch of flowers and drapes the £3m-rated teenage utility man around the Liverpool manager’s neck.

And to complete the contractually-obliged big four round-up, Arsenal were rather laughably linked with a move for Pepe Reina over the weekend.

Elsewhere, West Brom will bolster their Premier League survival bid next season by signing two players who failed to keep their teams up in this campaign. Hull’s Jimmy Bullard and Burnley’s Steven Fletcher are the smart buys.

Steve Coppell wants to turn the 2010-11 Bristol City side into the 2007-08 Reading team. The signings of Dave Kitson, Ivar Ingimarsson and James Harper will be the easy part. Bringing in blue and white hoops might be a little trickier.

It’s Everton v Blackburn for Getafe’s £10m-rated striker Roberto Soldado.

Wigan will move for Celtic’s Marc Crosas over the summer and will subtly attempt to placate sceptical Latics fans by continually describing him as “a former Barcelona and Lyon midfielder” on the club website.

And Paris St-Germain have a hankering for dynamic but erratic full-backs and will satisfy their hunger by snapping up West Ham’s Henry Ilunga and Portsmouth’s Nadir Belhadj.

LiverpoolArsenalCharlton AthleticChelseaManchester UnitedEvertonJohn Ashdownguardian.co.uk

• Rhone Group bid for 40% stake at Anfield
• Under-pressure owners may be forced to accept

Liverpool are in talks with private equity firm the Rhone Group over a £118.5m deal to buy a controlling share of the club and halve its debts.

It is understood the investment group wants a 40% stake at Anfield which would considerably strengthen the club’s financial position.

The Rhone Group’s bid would give them the controlling interest, with co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett reducing their shareholding to 30% each.

Hicks and Gillett, were last year told to cut £100m from the club’s £237m debts. The Royal Bank of Scotland gave the club a deadline of this summer to pay up.

The club’s chief executive, Christian Purslow, has been working to find investors and says he wants a deal by Easter.

The offer from the Rhone Group – which is the first real result of Purslow’s wide-ranging search – would be used to slash the club’s debt by half. That would make Liverpool a more attractive option for further outside investment.

It would also improve the club’s credit-worthiness, which could lead to work finally beginning on the long-awaited new stadium in Stanley Park.

Details of the offer were received by Liverpool yesterday and the matter has yet to be discussed by the board.

There have been suggestions that the American co-owners are looking for a better price, but with the clock ticking it may yet prove viable.

The Rhone Group was founded in 1995, has its headquarters in New York with other offices in London and Paris and describes itself as “one of the world’s leading mid-market private equity firms”.

LiverpoolBusinessguardian.co.uk