Deja vu

The Independent in a wonderful piece of investigative journalism today repeats what The Evening Standard reported yesterday - so we might as well repeat it here a second time ourselves.

First, West Ham are believed to be in pole position to buy Brett Emerton and are prepared to offer around £1.5m for the 27-year-old.

Second, the Ghanaian international John Pantsil is joining the squad on its Swedish tour ahead of a proposed £700,000 transfer from the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv. "Hapoel have given the player permission to come on tour and it will be an ideal opportunity to have a good look at him," Pardew has said.

And finally, Dean Ashton is going nowhere. Alan Pardew called the rumours surrounding Ashton, "absolute rubbish". He said: "There is no truth in that. Dean has settled in well and just bought a house. I can guarantee he will be going nowhere." Newcastle have also said they have no intention of bidding.