Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is continuing to assess his options as he looks to sign some defensive cover, amid reports of a rejected bid for Watford’s Adrian Mariappa.
The Shields Gazette reports that the Watford have put a £4million price tag on the 25-year old defender while it is thought Newcastle’s offer was under £1million.
The article also suggests that Watford are far from happy with what they consider to be a derisory bid and manager Sean Dyche is quoted from the Daily Mirror by ESPN as being annoyed. He said:
“Their offer is nowhere near our valuation. I couldn’t begin to tell you how far away it was – my son’s got more money in his money box.
If clubs at our level are helping to develop players, it’s fair to say that the big clubs with money should respect that.”
With the Magpies already missing out on James Tomkins, and a big difference in valuation with Watford over Mariappa, soccernews.nl reports that Newcastle – along with Blackburn and Aston Villa – are looking at Holland under-21 international Virgil van Dijk.
The Groningen defender is a rising star in Dutch football and “an army of scouts” from all over Europe were sent to watch him at the weekend, according Groningen president Hans Nijland.
