THE AGENT of FC Twente right-back Roberto Rosales last night insisted Newcastle United are on the trail of the highly-rated Venezuela international.

Toon boss Alan Pardew has previously been linked with the 23-year-old, rated in the £3m bracket, after he took in several games in the Dutch Eredivisie towards the end of last season.

A right-sided full-back is a priority for Pardew as Danny Simpson’s refusal to sign the deal offered to him means that, at the moment, he will be leaving St James’ Park with Fulham seemingly his likely destination.

Claudio Barrios, Rosales’ representative, told the Dutch media that his man was definitely on Newcastle’s radar, but the Magpies would face competition if they wanted to land him this summer.

Barrios said: “Newcastle and FC Porto are two clubs that are closely following Roberto. There is also interest from two German and two Spanish clubs.

“But the transfer market will be open for a long time and I remind everyone that most deals will be completed in August.”

If Pardew decided to follow up on this apparent initial interest in Rosales, he would be in no great hurry for a deal to be done as he would be happy to wait until during or indeed after the European Championships for more new faces to follow Romain Amalfitano, who agreed a three-year deal on Wednesday, to Tyneside.

Rosales, who can also play on the right side of midfield but is a natural defender, came to Europe from hometown club Caracas in 2007 to join Belgian side Gent, despite having made only two first-team appearances.

He signed for Twente, now managed by former England and Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, two years ago and has been an almost ever-present in the side. Rosales has been capped 36 times at senior level and last season was even linked with Spanish giants Real Madrid.

One of Pardew’s tasks this summer is to trim the number of fringe players from his squad and Spanish striker Xisco, currently on loan at Deportivo La Coruna, could well be off-loaded with 12 months of his contract still to run, which would raise some funds.

Albeit Newcastle will take a heavy loss on the player. Deportivo have

stated they would consider making his move permanent if they won promotion to La Liga, which is now looking all-but secured thanks to the Newcastle player.

Xisco scored a last-minute winner on Wednesday night to help his club beat Gimnastic Taragona 2-1 having come on as a late substitute.

Deportivo now need only a point from their final two matches for go back up after one season outside of Spain’s top tier.

Xisco, who moved from England to Spain on a year’s loan in August, burst into tears at the end of the match in which he emerged the hero.

He said: “This is my best moment in football.”

Xisco, 25, moved from Deportivo to Newcastle in 2008 for £5.7m.

ONLY one serious offer was on the table when Mike Ashley tried to sell Newcastle United, the banker at the centre of the sale revealed today.

Investment bankers were called in to sell the St James’ Park club in 2008 after owner Ashley bowed to fans’ pressure by putting the club on the market.

In an open letter to supporters at the time, he said he had put the club up for sale after being advised not to take his children to the ground over fears they would be attacked as morale among fans hit rock bottom.

But takeover deals repeatedly collapsed, leaving Ashley desperately looking for a new investor.

Now in an exclusive interview as the Chronicle marks the sports tycoon’s five-year reign at Newcastle, Keith Harris has:

Revealed 20 potential buyers expressed an interest in the club – but only one emerged as a realistic investor

Said it was a Tyneside millionaire who came close to clinching the deal before details of the buy-out were leaked and the move crashed

Claimed Ashley grew tired of “tyre kickers” who were more interested in raising their profiles than buying the club, and

Said Ashley was “disillusioned” with his time on Tyneside after months of torment and protests from the Newcastle crowd.

Mr Harris spent more than six months seeking out potential suitors who were willing to meet the club’s £80m asking price.

But the experienced banker said only one credible investor appeared to have the finances needed to take control of Newcastle United.

He refused to name the businessman, but the Chronicle understands it to be Tyneside tycoon Barry Moat who made his fortune selling products from his North East company, Premier Direct.

Moat became the front runner in a £100m race to complete ownership of the club and reports claimed he planned to install Alan Shearer as permanent manager.

The property tycoon was chairman of Shearer’s testimonial committee in 2005 and also has a plush executive box at St James’ Park.

Mr Harris, chairman of investment banking firm Seymour Pierce, said: “We were retained by Mike Ashley to sell the business. We got expressions of interest from a lot of people as is typical in football.

“Most of them were just kicking the tyres. There were one or two that came further than that but didn’t have all the money to invest but had some of it.

“It meant they required additional funding but Mike lost patience with the whole process.

“I wouldn’t say he was desperate to get rid of the club. He was disillusioned with what he saw going on at Newcastle United and he was obviously not massively popular in front of the fans.

“There’s not much honour in football. When a team gets relegated it tends to be the owner who gets criticised, but when things go well it’s the manager who gets the plaudits and I don’t think Mike was used to that.”

Mr Harris was appointed to handle the sale amid claims by entertainment mogul Chris Nathaniel that he was fronting a Nigerian bid to buy the Toon.

Interest also emerged from a South African consortium, headed by Scots-based businessman Jonathan Cleland. He said his group had met Kevin Keegan and held talks with Seymour Pierce.

Mr Harris said: “There were probably about 20 people who came back positively to express an interest and that was filtered down very, very quickly.

“Football is a great opportunity for people to enhance their personal profile but Mike stayed cool through the whole process.

“As we narrowed it down there was one very interested party. He was very interested and a deal was on the cards. Because it was sensitive the press got hold of it and it nearly killed it. He had some additional money to raise and the terms he suggested were not far off. It was a credible and possible buy-out.”

Referring to dealing with Ashley during negotiations, Mr Harris said: “He was very straightforward to deal with. He wanted to know the news and he relied on Derek Llambias as an intermediary.”

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