Sam's new pal Joey

The 24-year-old, who won his first England cap against Spain in February, had a medical in Newcastle yesterday after turning down the £73,000-a-week offer from West Ham, which is almost £1m a year more than the deal Allardyce offered.

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Allardyce hopes his second arrival will be Mark Viduka, having edged ahead of Portsmouth, West Ham and Birmingham in the race to sign the Australian from Middlesbrough, who are keen to hold on to the striker.

Barton will cost Newcastle £5.5million, a figure which triggered a release clause forcing Manchester City to let the player talk to other clubs.

Although Everton indicated an early interest in signing the Liverpool-born player, only Newcastle and West Ham matched the figure needed to sign the scandal-prone midfielder.

Former Bolton boss Allardyce, who has previously coped with a series of football bad boys, is confident he can tame Barton's wild side.

That deterred many clubs from gambling on a player who leaves City following a training ground clash which left team-mate Ousmane Dabo needing hospital treatment for head injuries.

The Newcastle manager is anxious to tie up Viduka, who is out of contract at the Riverside Stadium. Like Barton, the Australia captain is also ready to snub West Ham, who have offered him £65,000-a-week over three years.

Although reports of Newcastle clinching the deal appear premature, they are favourites to sign the 31-year-old, who is keen to stay in his Harrogate home.

In addition, Allardyce remains confident he can take Bolton's out-ofcontract Israel defender Tal Ben Haim to St James' Park, despite interest from Chelsea. He is also keen on Paris St-Germain's Czech defender David Rozehnal.

The significant transfer activity at Newcastle comes as the club's shareholders anticipate the latest move by billionaire businessman Mike Ashley. He is expected to send out a document confirming details of his 100p-per-share offer.

Under Stock Exchange rules, the sports goods retailing magnate has 28 days to inform Newcastle shareholders of the details, and they then have 60 days to consider them.

Ashley snapped up a 41.6 per cent stake in the club when he bought the Hall family's holding for £55m last month, and he is intent on completing a £133.1m takeover.

However, Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd controls 29.8 per cent of the club and has previously fought off two rival bids.

One option available to Shepherd is to refinance the club, secure a fresh bank deal and take overall control himself.

A significant proportion of the club is owned by small shareholders rather than institutions, and while Shepherd could not prevent Ashley's new company from buying up those stakes, he would need to make more significant inroads to approach levels where his position became untenable.

Newcastle have a total of 10 vacancies for new physios, sports therapists, sports scientists, masseurs, chiropractors and nutrionists. The jobs are part of far-reaching Allardyce's plans.

BIG SAM'S BAD BOYS

NICOLAS ANELKA — brilliant France striker nicknamed the Incredible Sulk' for his attitude to team spirit.

IVAN CAMPO — spent his early days chasing referees, now a responsible influence in the Bolton midfield.

EL HADJI DIOUF — despised for his penchant for spitting . . . at opposing fans or players, he isn't fussy.

MARIO JARDEL — Brazil striker who sought the high life in Bolton and ballooned enough to be christened Lardel' by disappointed fans.