NEWCASTLE UNITED were closing in on midfield target Nicky Butt last night after Manchester Unted accepted their £2.5m bid for the England international.

The 29-year-old was reported to be on his way out of the Red Devils American camp and on his way to Tyneside.

Manchester United revealed in a statement on the club's official website, www.manutd.com: ''Nicky Butt has left the Manchester United tour of America.

''Manchester United have agreed terms with Newcastle pending a medical and Nicky Butt's personal terms.''

Butt was an unused substitute as an inexperienced United team lost a penalty shoot-out to German giants Bayern Munich in the ChampionsWorld Series at Soldier Field on Sunday.

He first asked to leave Old Trafford in January and has made no attempts to disguise his growing frustration at a lack of first-team opportunities under Sir Alex Ferguson over the past 18 months.

The Magpies may also be finally strengthening their right-back department after Hatem Trabelsi stalled on a move to Arsenal.

After resigning themselves to missing out on Trabelsi, Newcastle had switched their attention to Tottenham's Stephen Carr in an attempt to finally solve their right-back problem ahead of the new season.

The Moroccan had been on the brink of putting pen to paper at Arsenal over the weekend but now the Tunisian is stalling over the move after demanding more money from the Gunners.

Both parties are well apart in their negotiations and that has allowed Newcastle to make one last concerted effort to tempt the 27-year-old to move to St James' Park instead.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits 'there is still a chance with him but there are some disagreements' but is secretly accepting the player may not be moving to Highbury.

The Premiership champions remain Trabelsi's first choice and he is keen to renegotiate in an attempt to play Champions League football next season.

Newcastle have made contact with the defender on a number of occasions but it is understood the North-East club's reluctance to go through agents has hindered their chances of completing a deal.

But, with the proposed Arsenal deal now on the brink of collapse, the Tyneside outfit have a chance to get their man if they try to broker a deal using Trabelsi's advisors.

Both English clubs are believed to have offered Ajax around £3.5m for the North African, who is keen to move on following a contract dispute with his employers.

Should Newcastle be successful in their attempts to hijack Trabelsi's switch to Arsenal then he is likely to join Butt at St James' Park for the start of the campaign.

The 29-year-old could complete a £2.5m move within a week after all the major obstacles to the transfer were overcome.

Butt has six Premierhsip medals to his credit and returned from the 2002 World Cup Finals in the Far East having been named as one of the players of the tournament by Pele.

But a succession of injuries have seen him slip down the pecking order for club and country - and he lost his England place for Euro 2004 prior to picking up a knee ligament injury.

Butt made the last of his 387 appearances in a red shirt as a late substitute in the FA Cup final win over Millwall at the Millennium Stadium in May, his second triumph in the competition.

* A strong Newcastle team will travel to Ipswich Town tomorrow night but it is unclear whether Patrick Kluivert will make his bow in a black and white shirt.

The Dutchman only started training with his new teammates yesterday and Robson is yet to decide on the player's condition. Robson said: "He may play but I don't know his general fitness. I couldn't say until Tuesday. I don't want to risk him in a match when he is not fit."

Kieron Dyer, Titus Bramble and Darren Ambrose will all play against their old club in a testimonial for coach Dale Roberts - who died of cancer in February last year.

Meanwhile, a Newcastle XI go to Boston United tonight and the Pilgrims will include the legendary Paul Gascoigne in their line-up.

Gascoigne has agreed 'in principle' to become Boston's player-coach and he is due to be unveiled at a press conference on Friday.

Tonight's match at York Road with Newcastle will be the first time Gazza has turned out in a Boston shirt and a bumper crowd is expected.

Boston boss Steve Evans said: "It's going to be a tremendous occasion, especially seeing Paul playing against one of his old clubs."

Gascoigne, now 37, played 107 times for Newcastle in a four-year spell after coming through the ranks at St James' Park as a trainee.

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