Battle well and truly on over Woodgate

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Boro had already reached agreement on that fee with Spurs and Woodgate spoke to both suitors yesterday.

Woodgate: Decision time

Staying at Boro remains a possibility. A move to Spurs — who are still hopeful midfielder Tiago will join from Juventus — would mean Woodgate becoming one of their top earners given his £65,000-a-week wages at The Riverside.

But matching such wages would not be a problem for Newcastle, with billionaire owner Mike Ashley willing to back Kevin Keegan's decision to offer Woodgate a return to St James' Park.

Keegan said: 'He's one of a number of players we've talked about. I'm not surprised others are interested. He's a great leader. He's 28 and I gave him his England debut and know him well.'

Presumably Woodgate's potential arrival met with the approval of Spurs' director of football Damien Comolli.

But while manager Juande Ramos has convinced his employers to move for the Boro centre back, that has not stopped the Spurs coach snubbing up to eight players suggested by Comolli.

Asked whether he had refused any of Comolli's targets, Ramos said: 'I've already done so on various occasions, although you don't know that.'

Confidence is high ahead of tomorrow's FA Cup fourth-round trip to Manchester United following Spurs' 5-1 drubbing of Arsenal in the semifinal of the Carling Cup.

And Ramos, learning of Sir Alex Ferguson's penchant for sharing a glass of red wine after the game, insists the cork will stay firmly in the bottle unless Spurs make it to the fifth round.

He said: 'I'll take a bottle of red and if we win I'll open it and if we lose I won't!

'It's normal the home team are favourites — and United or Arsenal are always the big favourites.

'But in Spain's Super Cup this season, Sevilla beat Real Madrid 5-3 in their stadium. That just shows anything can happen.'