NEWCASTLE chairman Freddy Shepherd last night told prospective suitors to forget all about trying to sign Jermaine Jenas and insisted the much-admired midfielder remains central to the club's plans.

Jenas has been the focus of persistent transfer speculation this summer following May's successful tour of the United States with England.

Tottenham have been leading the chase for the 22-year-old and sources in London have suggested Spurs chairman Daniel Levy tabled a £6m bid for his services.

The London club have just received around £8m in compensation from Chelsea following the champions' capture of sporting director Frank Arnesen and boss Martin Jol has made signing a ball-playing midfielder his priority.

But Shepherd has denied receiving a bid and moved quickly to quash any suggestion that Newcastle would be willing to let Jenas go.

While Newcastle are not exactly short of options in central midfield, Jenas' position is not up for discussion.

"We haven't heard from Tottenham and even if we did, we would tell them that JJ is not for sale," said Shepherd, who is also continuing to debate Emre Belozoglu's future with Inter Milan.

"He is a player we all rate very highly. Graeme (Souness) made him captain when Alan (Shearer) was injured and that just shows you how important he is. He will not be going anywhere."

Souness regularly spoke of the youngster's maturity, picking him out as a potential long-term leader when Shearer looked like retiring in May.

The Scot has spoken to Jenas within the last week in order to assure him he remains an integral part of his plans despite the recent capture of £6.5m midfield man Scott Parker.

Parker's arrival means that Newcastle can now boast six internationals at the heart of midfield, with Jenas battling with Kieron Dyer, Lee Bowyer, Nicky Butt and Amdy Faye for a place.

But, while Souness has reluctantly agreed to the sale of Bowyer and is also listening to offers for Butt, he is adamant Jenas will not be making way for his new recruit.

Newcastle had hoped to finally complete another piece of transfer business yesterday when the Court For Arbitration In Sport (CAS) met to discuss Charles N'Zogbia's move from Le Havre last August.

But, despite Le Havre continuing to dispute Newcastle's ownership of the midfielder, a judgement may not be passed for another month. The French club insist that, under French football law, N'Zogbia is l contracted to them until 2006.

Newcastle have always contested that claim and, last summer, FIFA ruled that their capture of the 19-year-old was legitimate and ordered them to pay limited compensation to Le Havre.

But the Normandy outfit have still asked for a final binding ruling from the CAS. Should the court rule in their favour, Newcastle could be forced to pay as much as £500,000 for the teenager or, in a worst-case scenario, send him back across the Channel.

* Newcastle have moved a step closer to learning their Intertoto Cup third round opponents after Slovakian side Dubnica beat Hungarian opponents Vasas to secure their passage to the second round and a tie with Turkish side Ankaraspor next weekend.

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