Gascoigne signed on record transfer fee

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 33

Gascoigne signed on record transfer fee

Tottenham Hotspur set a record British transfer fee when it signed Paul Gascoigne from Newcastle for £s2 million recently. The England first division soccer club, managed by Terry Veneables, bought Gascoigne to stiffen its midfield as it seeks to re-estab-lish its place near the top of the division. The previous highest British transfer fee was the £1.9 million Liverpool paid Newcastle for Peter Beardsley in 1987. Only three British players have cost more than Gascoigne and Mr Venables was responsible for two of those. He was in charge at Bar-

celona when it paid £2.3 million for Mark Hughes and £2.7 million for Gary Lineker. The Welsh striker, lan Rush, remains the most expensive Briton, Juventus having paid Liverpool £3.2 million for him two years ago. Gasgoine, nicknamed “Fat Boy” because of his liking for Mars bars and Newcastle Brown Ale, will be joined at Spurs by a fellow England under 21 international, Paul Stewart. The striker was signed from Manchester City for £1.5 million. Mr Venables has spent £5 million since taking over at the London club late last year

but recouped some of that outlay by unloading the striker, Clive Allen, to Bordeaux of the French first division for £1 million. Other notable transfers have been Graham Rix (Arsenal to Caen of France), Brain Stein (Luton to Caen), Gordon Cowans (Bari of Italy to Aston Villa for £250,000), Kevin Drinkell (Norwich to Glasgow Rangers for £500,000), Hughes (Barcelona to Manchester United for £1.5 million), Jim Leighton (Aberdeen to Manchester United for £750,000) and Pat Nevin (Chelsea to Everton, fee to be decided by the Football League tribunal). The opening day of the England season is August 27.