Newcastle tell Lisbon, pay up or lose Viana

By European Football
March 17 2005

Newcastle United have put a five million price tag on midfielder Hugo Viana and are willing to tell Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, that they either pay up or Hugo will go elsewhere. Freddy Shepherd stated: "Hugo is on loan with Sporting Lisbon until the end of the season and after that it is up to them to make a bid for him."

"But if they don't then we already have five other clubs, two each from Spain and Portugal and another from Italy, showing an interest in him."

The Spanish clubs are a mystery at the moment, but the Italian one is believed to be Palermo, with a club insider stating last week that he believed a move for Viana could still be on, despite them being rebuffed in the summer.

There is little doubting Viana’s talent, but he did not adjust well to the premiership, however several fans believed that was because he was not given an extended run in the side in his natural position.

It does seem likely though, that Shepherd, would rather bring the player back to St James, than to see him go for less than his worth.

If Sporting are going to continue to plead poverty, or fail to come up with a player that Souness believes is worth a swap, then they will lose their young star.

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