By Jebediah
July 19 2005

Jebediah’s roundup of Fridays tabloid newspapers, and a look at the stories and rumours involving Newcastle United.

The main news today, which is in all the tabloids except The Mirror, is that Arsenal are ready to make an offer for Newcastle midfielder Jermaine Jenas.

Last night Patrick Vieira completed his shock move to Juventus, in a deal worth a reported £13.75m. Arsenal see Jenas as the ideal replacement for the Frenchman, and are lining up a bid reported to be worth £6m with Sol Campbell going the other way. Souness however has continued to rebuff speculation linking Jenas with a move away from St James' Park this summer, insisting that Jenas is a huge part of his first team plans. I personally think that it would take a lot more than £6m plus a 31 year old defender, albeit Sol Campbell, to persuade Souness to sell his man. With Arsene Wenger often turning to the French league when doing business, I think that he will be priced out of a move for Jenas and will end up going for a cheaper option from the France. The name Mahamadou Diarra is being mentioned.

Souness spoke about Campbell on Sky Sports News yesterday, saying he has "been outstanding" and is "the rock Arsenal have built their defence around." Souness is keen to bring in a new centre back after he lost Titus Bramble for up to three months, and apparently Arsenal are going to exploit this by offering Campbell plus cash for Jenas.

Many papers are making out that Jenas is unsettled, as he is worried about his place in the team. Souness so far has brought in two central midfielders this summer.

The manager and chairman Freddy Shepherd have constantly denied that their man is available. Shepherd recently stated that there had been no offer from Arsenal, and even if there was it would be a waste of time.

The only other relevant story is some quotes from Charlton's new signing Darren Ambrose, saying Lee Bowyer should join him at Charlton. The tenacious midfielder has been linked with moves to West Ham, Charlton and Birmingham over the summer, but Ambrose has said his best move would be to The Valley. He said "I think Lee would be interested in coming" and also stated he spoke to Bowyer before signing for Charlton who told him "It is a good family club." Bowyer began his career at Charlton before moving to Leeds, where he made a name for himself.