Sam Allardyce was last night trying to pull off his biggest coup as Newcastle manager by stealing Bolton’s Tal Ben Haim from under the nose of Chelsea. The Israel defender has been talking to Chelsea about a free transfer to Stamford Bridge on £60,000-a-week wages. But Allardyce has promised to match Chelsea’s £3m-a-year offer as well as guarantee Ben Haim, 25, first-team football. Allardyce also hopes to land Paris St Germain’s Czech defender David Rozehnal for £2m and is confident of completing the signing of Joey Barton from Manchester City, despite City’s refusal to pay the midfielder a £300,000 ‘loyalty’ bonus.
Albert Luque’s move to PSV Eindhoven has broken down for a third time over his £45,000-aweek wage demands.
