Jonathan Woodgate has signed for Bobby Robson's Newcastle United, completing his £9 million deal on the last day of the transfer window.

"He's a great signing, and England's best young centre-half to my mind. "I saw him play two years ago when Leeds played Barcelona - Leeds were murdered but he was sensational," Sir Bobby Robson told TalkSport.

"He is the right age for us, 23, in common with a lot of our really young players. We are trying to build for a long, successful, happy future."

The Newcastle manager added: "He is an England centre-half and that helps. We have a lot of foreign players here but we need a good mix.

"It is an important day for him and the club."

England coach Tord Grip is a confirmed admirer of the centre-half, telling TheFA.com: "He is a very clean player who tackles accurately, does not give the ball away and rarely gets booked."

Meanwhile, another England youth international is set to leave St James' Park as England Under-18 international midfielder Neale McDermott is to join Fulham. Neale, who is currently in Egypt with the England Under 18 side that is competing in the UEFA/CONCAF Meridien Cup in Egypt, has represented England at U15, U17 and Under 18 level, scoring two goals, the first of which was against Spain at Ashton Gate on 3 October 2001.

He made his England Under 18 debut, and scored, in their 4-0 friendly win in Tunisia on 14 November.  

 

And England Under-20 striker Richard Offiong has also left St James' Park today...but only on loan.

Richard, who is highly regarded at both club and international level, will spend the rest of the season on loan to Motherwell.

In October 2002 he made his first England Under 20 appearance when coming on as a second half substitute in Germany and followed that up with a second appearance from the bench against Italy in November. Previously he had appeared once for both the England Under 17s and Under 19s.

Richard is also in the England U20 squad for their friendly match with Germany to be held at Reading FC on Thursday 6th February 2003. 

 

After the signings of Hugo Viana and Titus Bramble, Bobby Robson has now spent over £20m since the end of last season.

Woodgate's move means that the growing army of 'bright young things' at St. James' Park continues to grow.  As well as England stars Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Jenas and Woogate, Sir Bobby also has Wales' Craig Bellamy and Portugal's Viana at his disposal.

Sir Bobby's Buys:

July 2002: Titus Bramble, from Ipswich - £5million
June 2002: Hugo Viana, from Sporting Lisbon - £8.5million
Feb 2002: Jermaine Jenas, from Nottingham Forest - £5million
Aug 2001: Laurent Robert, from PSG - £9.5million
July 2001: Robbie Elliott, from Bolton - free
June 2001: Craig Bellamy, from Coventry - £6million
Mar 2001: Andy O'Brien, from Bradford - £2million
Feb 2001: Wayne Quinn, from Sheffield United - £800,000
Oct 2000: Clarence Acuna, from Universidad de Chile - £1million
Sept 2000: Pedro Dimas, from Porto - free
Sept 2000: Lomana LuaLua, from Colchester - £2.25million
Aug 2000: Olivier Bernard, from Lyon - free
July 2000: Carl Cort, from Wimbledon - £7million
June 2000: Daniel Cordone, from Racing Club - £500,000
May 2000: Christian Bassedas, from Velez Sarsfield - £3.5million
Jan 2000: Diego Gavilan, Cerro Porteno - £2million