Newcastle agree £5m fee for Forest teenager
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Your support makes all the difference.Nottingham Forest's prodigious young midfield talent Jermaine Jenas last night agreed to a £5m move to Newcastle United which, if he passes a medical examination, will be the second-highest fee paid for a teenager from one British club to another.
The 18-year-old travelled to the North-East for talks after the Magpies agreed the fee yesterday with First Division Forest, who are known to be beset by financial difficulties. Only Robbie Keane, who moved from Wolves to Coventry for £6m as a 19-year-old in 1999, has cost more as a teenager.
Jenas, the England Under-19 captain who has also captained Forest once this season, has been attracting interest from several leading clubs, including Leeds and Arsenal, but the size of the fee in question has, until now, deterred all except Bobby Robson.
"Newcastle have agreed terms with Nottingham Forest for the transfer of Jermaine Jenas" said a club spokesman.
"Personal terms have been agreed and the transfer is now subject to a medical, the results of which will be known on Monday morning."
Robson's decision to pay the asking price appears to have been influenced by Kieron Dyer's latest injury setback. The England midfielder, having only recently returned from long-term injury, could now be out of action for eight more weeks because of a stress fracture of the foot.
The Forest chief executive, Mark Arthur, could only admit to his club's satisfaction at the deal. "We have accepted what we feel to be a very good offer from Newcastle for Jermaine," he said.
The Forest manager, Paul Hart, while sorry to see his prize asset go, tipped Jenas to reach the top. "It's inevitable we were going to lose 'JJ' when a suitable offer came in and the fact is £5m is a lot of money for an 18-year-old," he said. "Having said that, I have no doubts Jermaine can go on to make further progress in his career and develop into a top-class player."
John Gregory, Derby's new manager, made his first signing yesterday by taking the Newcastle defender Warren Barton to Pride Park for a nominal fee. Gregory, installed as Derby's third manager of the season on Wednesday, described the move as "the quickest transfer in the history of quick transfers".
"It was a very easy decision to join Derby," said the 32-year-old Barton. "This is a big club with a big manager and John Gregory was also a major part of me making the decision." Barton goes straight into the squad for Derby's home game against Tottenham today.
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