<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">REPORTS are rife that Australia striker Mark Viduka is set to switch English Premier League clubs before the weekend, signing for Newcastle United from Middlesbrough. The Socceroos World Cup star would join the Toon Army on a free transfer, since he is out of contract at Boro, and link up with respected coach Sam Allardyce, who recently joined the Magpies from Bolton Wanderers. Allardyce also knocked back the chance to coach England last year before former Boro boss Steve McLaren, who signed Viduka from Leeds United in 2004, took over from Sven Goran Eriksson in the wake of another World Cup failure. Viduka would be Allardyce's first high-profile signing, possibly joining England's Michael Owen up front, although separate rumours have linked Owen with a move to London giant Arsenal. Regardless, Viduka would be a valuable addition to the Magpies strikeforce. He scored 14 goals for Gareth Southgate's Boro last season, and was a consistent performer up front for Celtic and Leeds United before moving to the Riverside. Unfortunately, his international goal-scoring has been rather less impressive, with just six goals from 38 appearances in the green and gold. Newcastle appears to have seen off Portsmouth as thhe club Viduka wants to join, and location may be the reason. The man known as the V-Bomber will now be able to stay in the north-east of England, where he has played for Middlesbrough since 2004, rather than moving to the south coast.</div> Boro really needed Viduka to stay, and I wished he could have. Why leave when you're happy and scoring consistently? I hate when players do that.
your just sad because he's leaving the borough. One thing though, he would struggle to get a first team start with Owen and Martins upfront, unless they play with 3 upfront but it would be hard for them to work together. Lets just hope he's made the right decision.
Well it says there in the article that Arsenal has been tracking Owen even though they don't need him. Big Sam is a fan of Viduka so I doubt he'd leave him on the bench every game.
As an Aussie, I obviously want the best for Viduka and I am nervous with him moving to a club with strikers such as Martins and Owen, espially is classy form for Borough. All the best for Mark though.
