From Wor Jackie Milburn through Malcolm Macdonald, aka Supermac, to Net King Cole, the wearer of Newcastle’s No 9 shirt has held a special place in Tyneside affections.Having scored 24 League goals for Rangers last season, Ferdinand should have few problems following suit, though he stressed that he was not “an out-and-out scorer”, but someone capable of creating chances for others. By the time his contract at St James’ Park is up, Newcastle would recoup only a fraction of their expenditure, a factor Keegan clearly felt was outweighed by the newcomer’s value to a club intent on emulating Blackburn’s “chequebook championship”.”You might think pounds 6m is a lot of money but this guy is worth every penny,” Keegan said. Britain’s first pounds 10m player may, it seems, be only months away.Whereas Cole and Collymore are aged 23 and 24 respectively, Ferdinand will be 29 later this year. Villa are now likely to renew their efforts to pip Everton and Liverpool for Stan Collymore, for whom Nottingham Forest are demanding pounds 8.5m.

The fee equals the highest sum paid by a British club, although Andy Cole was valued at pounds 7m at the time of his move from Newcastle to Manchester United, the deal also involving the pounds 1m-rated Keith Gillespie.Ferdinand’s decision to join Newcastle disappointed Aston Villa, the only other club who agreed to meet Rangers’ asking price. I’ve signed a three-year contract and there’s no reason for me to go. It’s such a great club – the lads are fantastic and you’ve got everything here in Manchester.”Inter say they expect the transfer to go through today but a spokesman admitted: “The deal has not been officially completed yet because the player himself has not yet signed.”Ferdinand’s signing of a four-year contract at Newcastle followed hard on the heels of the capture of Wimbledon’s Warren Barton – on whom Keegan lavished a Premiership record for a defender of pounds 4m. Ince, who signed a three-year contract last year, had played down prospects of an Italian move in an interview in the club magazine only last week.”I think if I was going to Italy I would have gone last year when I had the contract dispute with the club,” he said “Now I don’t think about it. Mark Draper, valued at pounds 4m by Leicester, is earmarked as Ince’s replacement if the midfielder accepts Inter’s terms.Inter had a pounds 3m offer for Ince turned down earlier this week, but were given permission to talk to him last night after a meeting with United’s chairman, Martin Edwards. “However, there are still a number of details to be resolved,” Edwards said.

FOOTBALL

BY PHIL SHAW
Kevin Keegan continued his unilateral assault on the transfer market yesterday, taking Newcastle’s outlay to pounds 10m in the space of 48 hours when he paid Queen’s Park Rangers pounds 6m for their England striker, Les Ferdinand.Another comparable transaction may take Paul Ince from Manchester United to Milan, officials of Internazionale having last night agreed a fee for Ferdinand’s international colleague. No cash admission will be allowed.ENGLAND (4-4-2): Flowers (Blackburn); Barton (Newcastle), Cooper (Nottingham Forest), Pallister (Manchester United) or Scales (Liverpool), Le Saux (Blackburn); Anderton (Tottenham), Barnes (Liverpool), Platt (Sampdoria), Beardsley (Newcastle); Shearer (Blackburn), Sheringham (Tottenham).SWEDEN (probable; 4-4-2): Ravelli (IFK Gothenburg); Sundgren (AIK Solna), Lucic (Vastra Frolunda), Bjorklund (IFK Gothenburg), Kamark (IFK Gothenburg); Alexandersson (Halmstads), Thern (Roma), Erlingmark (IFK Gothenburg), Gudmundsson (Halmstads); Larsson (Feyenoord), K Andersson (Caen).Referee: L Mottram (Scotland).. A near full house is anticipated but 10,000 tickets remained unsold yesterday afternoon – they will be available until 4pm today. Only Majid Abdullah, whose 147 appearances for Saudi Arabia have recently been ratified by Fifa, is ahead of him.As this is England’s first home game outside Wembley since 1966, when they drew with Poland at Goodison Park, there will be much interest in the crowd. The IFK Gothenburg goalkeeper will win his 126th cap tonight, surpassing Peter Shilton’s record. Now 28, he has impressed in the Premiership with Nottingham Forest though Venables has long rated him – he revealed he had considered buying him for Tottenham.Sweden, dispirited and under strength, are probably the ideal opposition for England at the moment. Only four of the side that lost in the World Cup semi-finals to Brazil will be playing but it does include Thomas Ravelli.

If Pallister’s rib injury reacts badly to yesterday’s training John Scales will play.Cooper was a left-back at Middlesbrough, and it was only after he moved to Millwall that Mick McCarthy turned him into a central defender. Compared to Stan Collymore, who has been dropped, the Tottenham striker lacks pace and power, but he does have a far greater understanding of how Venables wants to play the game.This was evident as soon as he replaced Collymore against the Japanese. While Collymore had waited in vain for the ball, with the result that England’s forward moves became clogged by lack of movement, Sheringham dropped deep to create space for himself, and for midfielders to run into.Sheringham is one of six changes, including the entire back four where Gary Pallister is expected to be fit to play alongside Cooper, a former team-mate at Middlesbrough. Barnes, though unlikely to inflict bone-jarring tackles, is capable of, as he says, “getting a toe in”.To do this he will need movement around him, far more than England had against Japan on Saturday This is where Sheringham comes in. Barnes, not previously known as a fearsome tackler, assumes the mantle of Paul Ince and David Batty as the midfield anchorman.It is not as daft as it sounds, Barnes has filled the role with success for Liverpool and it could be the saving of his England career.England traditionally reserve this post for scrappers rather than passers but players who look good in the Premiership, where possession is always transitory and loose balls proliferate, struggle against opponents with a good first touch and an ability to pass the ball around them – like Romania or Brazil.Neither do they contribute much creatively. BY GLENN MOORE

A team designed not to lose was one assessment.