THE influx of foreign talent that has seen Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Di Matteo and Fabrizio Ravanelli enter English football over the past few weeks, looked set for its first significant reversal yesterday when David Ginola's agent claimed the Newcastle winger has held talks with Bobby Rob son about a £4 million move to Barcelona.
Oliver Godalier told a French newspaper: "I can confirm talks have taken place and David wants to join Barcelona. He almost joined them last July but Kevin Keegan came in with a better offer."
However, Newcastle's assistant manager Terry McDermott responded, saying: "It's news to us, and he denied that there have been any negotiations with Robson.
"There has been no contact between Newcastle and Barcelona", said McDermott. "To suggest there has is untrue. The agent may be saying there have been talks but I can assure you there haven't. It would be wrong to suggest that David is on the move. My view is that he is not for sale."
That, though, was contradicted by another Ginola adviser, Marc Roger, who said of the proposed Barcelona move: "I don't know why the deal was not done last summer. But now the Barcelona directors are unanimous, they all want David. Talks are well advanced."
They were at this stage last year too, but Ginola got fed up waiting for Johann Cruyff, saying: "I decided I could not wait any longer," and when Keegan came in with an offer the Frenchman left Paris St Germain for £2.5 million.
Initially his impact upon the North-east was huge but Ginola's form dipped in tandem with Newcastle's and he ended the season with only five goals from 40 games. Ginola finished the season without a champions' medal and had lost his place in the French squad for Euro '96, having played in five of the qualifiers.
Yet he left for his summer break in France, where he has properties in Paris and on the south coast, promising. I'll be back for next season.
Barcelona's interest would put that in jeopardy, more so than Chelsea's, who are said to have made an inquiry a fortnight ago. There is also the fact that Ginola has spoken about his wife, Coraline, and her difficulty in settling in England.
Ginola's possible departure would leave Keegan with a major headache about his left flank as Robbie Elliott, who played in the last four matches at left back after John Beresford's demotion, has Just rejected a new contract.
Meanwhile, Middlesbrough manager Bryan Robson has made an audacious £11.5 million bid for Fiorentina striker Gabriel Batistuta, according to a report in the Buenos Aires daily Clorin.
Last week Robson splashed out a club-record £7 million to bring striker Fabrizio Ravanelli from Juventus. That took his spending in the last 12 months to £28 million and the Italian was his second close-season capture.
Brazilian midfielder Emerson joined compatriots Juninho and Branco at the Riverside Stadium after completing a £4 million move from Porto in May.
Middlesbrough spokesman Dave Allen said yesterday: "The Batistuta story has been going the rounds and we have no comment to make on speculation. However, the manager has stated he wanted to sign two players in the close season and he has done just that."
Fiorentina know they would face a riot from their fans if they sold Batistuta, who has a phenomenal scoring record in Serie A.
