Newcastle United today tied up a £8.5 million transfer for Portuguese star Hugo Viana. The Sporting Lisbon midfielder was on Tyneside this afternoon as the Magpies worked to complete the deal ahead of Celta Vigo and Liverpool. Chairman Freddy Shepherd battled hard to sign the 19-year-old in a bid to inhance the quality of players at St James' Park.
"We have signed Hugo for $12 million and we are delighted to have got him. The general consensus of opinion is that he's the best young player in the world at the moment. But to tell you the truth, we had a few scary moments. Sporting Lisbon had already agreed a fee with Celta Vigo and then Liverpool actually moved in yesterday. However we are determined to get our man and we kept the Sporting people up through the night", said Shepherd.
Viana represents United's first signing during what is likely to be a busy summer for manager Bobby Robson, who will lead his side into the first leg of their Champions League qualifier on August 14th, three days before the start of the new Premiership season.
Filed by James Shortt
