Football: Gillespie's `happy' to stay with Newcastle

By Mark Burton

KEITH GILLESPIE, whose pounds 3.5m transfer to Middlesbrough fell through after a medical, is happy at Newcastle and will continue his protracted contract negotiations, according to his agent.

Ian Elliott said the Northern Ireland winger was keen to stay at St James' Park, even though he had been expected to sign for Boro today. However, Elliott seemed to be damning the Magpies with faint place when he said of Gillespie, who had not requested a transfer: "It is not the end of the world for him if he stays there. It is a big club and he has always been happy up here."

That hardly sounded a strong negotiating position, but Newcastle yesterday announced their intentions to resume contract talks when they released a statement. "Newcastle expect the player to return to the squad shortly and will continue to have contract discussions with him over the next few weeks," it said.

Middlesbrough said on Sunday they had secured Gillespie on a five-year contract, but Elliott admitted that the deal fell through because the former Manchester United player would not be available for the start of the new season after failing to shrug off the ankle injury which kept him out of the FA Cup final in May. "The only thing we have is a slight medical problem with his ankle, which he damaged at Tottenham last season," Elliott said. "It is going to take a period of rest to put that right and I think Middlesbrough wanted him to be available to play straight away. That is our understanding of the situation."

Another apparently done deal, David Unsworth's move back to Everton after a one-week stay at Aston Villa has not been completed four days after the transfer had apparently been agreed. It is believed the move hinges on the Aston Villa chairman, Doug Ellis, and his Everton counterpart, Peter Johnson, approving the deal. Unsworth, whose wife was apparently behind the move back to the North-west, remains a Villa player.

Yet another transfer saga seems set to end as Colin Hendry is poised to complete his transfer to Rangers some time today.

The Scottish champions, who opened their Premier League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Hearts on Sunday, and are believed to have raised their offer for Blackburn's inspirational centre-half and reached a compromise on the fee, at possibly about pounds 4m, after Rovers asked for pounds 5.15m.

Blackburn's chief executive, John Williams, said yesterday there had been "positive developments" and it now looks as though Hendry could become a Rangers player today.