Sport 24-08-2001 Cole Taken To Newcastle... Or Fulham? who: Newcastle United what: Deny making offer for Manchester United and England striker Andy Cole where: St James` Park, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE when: Yesterday snippet: "Newcastle United are making a £10m bid to bring Andy Cole back from Manchester United," says The Independent`s Alan Nixon today after reports in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle that chairman Freddy Shepherd made a formal offer to chief executive Peter Kenyon. But, says The Guardian`s Daniel Taylor, Magpies manager Bobby Robson says he is mystified by the reports and there have been vehement denials from Old Trafford, where the 29-year-old striker moved six years ago from St James` Park, where he had scored 68 goals in 82 appearances. Taylor even goes so far as to suggest that the story might have been "deliberately leaked by senior figures inside the club to pacify supporters in the wake of their Intertoto Cup defeat by Troyes." But several reports, including one from The Sun`s Carl Liddle, reckon that Fulham`s Jean Tigana is after Cole as a strike partner for Louis Saha. Cole would "undoubtedly prefer a move back to London," he says. [... more]

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