Anelka not for sale, say Fenerbahce
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Your support makes all the difference.Anelka joined the Turkish side on the final day of the January transfer window, with Fenerbahce paying Manchester City £7m. But the Newcastle manager, Graeme Souness, is understood to be chasing the striker, who has already made it clear that he has no desire to leave Turkey.
The Fenerbahce vice-president, Nihat Ozdemir, has told Newcastle that they would be wasting their time by making an offer. "No offer has been made to the player or ourselves," hesaid. "We didn't buy him to sell him. We're going to reach many big successes in Europe with Anelka. We constantly aim to improve our squad and therefore we won't sell Anelka. Whatever the offer, we won't let him go."
There was some better news for Souness on the transfer front yesterday, however, when he completed the signing of the Turkey international Emre for a £3.8m fee from Internazionale. The midfielder has signed a five-year contract at St James' Park.
Souness first encountered the player when he was managing the Turkish club Galatasaray. "I am delighted to have him," the Newcastle manager said. "He is left-footed and I think it is imperative that you have a couple of left-footers in your team to give you the balance. We have two at the moment - I would like three.
"There is a feeling in Turkey that he is the best Turkish player ever. When I was there as a coach, he was a young boy, a very young boy and the name kept cropping up," Souness recalled.
Emre, who spent four seasons in Italy and was a losing World Cup semi-finalist in 2000 with Turkey, is Newcastle fourth signing of the summer.
Souness has also brought in the 17-year-old goalkeeper Tim Krul from the Dutch club Den Haag on a three-year deal. Krul said: "It's a fantastic move for me to sign for such a big club. To come and play in England has always been a dream."
The Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer has been given a date for his court appearance to answer a charge under the Public Order Act following a fight with his team-mate Kieron Dyer during the 3-0 defeat in a Premiership game against Aston Villa at St James' Park in April. Bowyer is scheduled to appear before magistrates on 5 September.
Bowyer's solicitor, Steven Barker, said that he is still seeking a judicial review of the decision to prosecute his client, which may not be heard before the scheduled court date.
In that case, Barker said he would apply for the case to be adjourned until after the High Court's decision. He believes that Bowyer's club fine of "more than a quarter of a million pounds" means that further punishment by the courts is not in the public interest.
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