By Matthew Jones
June 1 2005

Newcastle United have made a €5m (£3.4m) bid for Hamburg defender Daniel Van Buyten, according to his current club. The 27-year-old has also been linked with Werder Bremen, meaning that Newcastle may have to up thier bid, although Van Buyten appears to prefer the North East club. Speaking yesterday at Belgium's international squad base in Spa, Van Buyten said: "I have spoken to Graeme Souness and he said that he wants me and five or six others.

"He [Souness] said that he wants to rebuild and that next season Newcastle are going for the Champions League at least. He also said that Newcastle will even try for the Premier League title.

"He told me that I will play alongside Jean-Alain Boumsong and that Boumsong already knows.

"I do not know yet if I will even leave Hamburg but they are not in Europe next season and I want to play in the Champions League, that is my ambition."

Both Newcastle and Bremen would be able to up raise thier bids if needed, but Bremen can use the fact they are in next seasons Champions League as an incentive for the defender.

According to THE GUARDIAN, Van Buyten considers the Premiership "the best league" and added that while he thinks "Hamburg is a lovely city, Newcastle is a football city".