Newcastle rejected bid from Spain for Kluivert

Patrick Kluivert will be given another chance to prove himself at Newcastle United after Graeme Souness, the club's manager, revealed a bid for the striker has been rejected.

Patrick Kluivert will be given another chance to prove himself at Newcastle United after Graeme Souness, the club's manager, revealed a bid for the striker has been rejected.

The 28-year-old will be in the starting line-up for tomorrow's last-32 Uefa Cup first-leg tie against the Dutch side Heerenveen at the Abe Lenstra Stadium, Souness confirmed.

The Dutch striker is yet to make an impression on Tyneside, and his future at the club is uncertain. However, Souness confirmed the club turned down an offer from the Spanish side Osasuna for him during the January transfer window and has again challenged Kluivert to make his mark for the club.

"Osasuna did come in for Kluivert before the transfer window closed, but we did not want to let him go," he said. "We know what he can do and I am still confident we can get the best out of him, hopefully starting on Thursday night.

"He will be in our starting line-up and if he needed any incentive to do well, he should be able to turn it on in front of his own folk."

Nicky Butt, who returned to the Newcastle squad after a 13-game absence with a hamstring problem in the 1-1 draw at Manchester City on 2 February, turned an ankle in training and is a slight concern for Thursday.

However, the £8m transfer-window signing Jean-Alain Boumsong, who suffered a hamstring injury three games into his Newcastle career, has gone to France to consult a specialist over a suspected back problem.

John Terry, the Chelsea captain, last night insisted that his club does not need to sign Arsenal's Ashley Cole as they already have a world-class left-back in Wayne Bridge.

Ten clean sheets in a row would support Terry's claims that their defence is hardly in need of urgent reinforcements but Jose Mourinho has confirmed he is interested in recruiting a replacement for Celestine Babayaro, who was sold to Newcastle United in the transfer window. The Chelsea manager also recently revealed his admiration for Cole.

Mourinho has chosen to side-step allegations that he was involved in an illegal meeting with the Arsenal full-back at a London hotel last month, with the Premier League currently carrying out an official inquiry. However, Terry insisted that Chelsea do not need to sign Cole, even if they had the chance to lure him from Arsenal this summer.

"'Bridgey' is a first-class player and one of the best left-backs in the world, so why do we need to go out and do that?" he said. "Ash is a great player, I'm not denying that, but if you spoke to him, I think you'd find he's Arsenal through and through.

"It's the same with me. I don't ever want to leave Chelsea. I think Ashley is the same at Arsenal. It's all about opinions. I'm not Sven Goran Eriksson's first-choice. If Mr Mourinho had the chance to buy Sol Campbell or Rio Ferdinand, would he? I don't know, you'd have to ask him that."

Terry is certainly determined to oust either Ferdinand or, more realistically, Campbell from the England side after being at the forefront of Chelsea's title campaign.

"Chelsea are my bread and butter. If I can play well for Chelsea, week in and week out, and be consistent then that's my target," he said.

"But hopefully Mr Eriksson will be watching and will choose me ahead of the other two. They're good players but it's down to me to prove him wrong. I was a bit gutted that I missed out on the friendly against the Netherlands. I was struggling before the game with a bruised bone in my knee."