AS his much-publicised striker search continues to draw a blank, Newcastle manager Graeme Souness has identified Kieron Dyer as the man to solve his side's goalscoring problems.

With Shola Ameobi unlikely to feature in the first month of the season because of a combination of injury and suspension, 34-year-old Alan Shearer and the untried Michael Chopra are the only available strikers currently on Newcastle's books.

Souness' efforts to bolster his forward ranks have run into problem after problem this summer, with Michael Owen, Alan Smith and Robbie Keane all having snubbed a possible move to St James' Park.

Fenerbache frontman Nicolas Anelka is the latest player to have attracted the Scot's interest but his Turkish employers have turned down Newcastle's offer of around £4m for his services, with Magpies' chief Freddy Shepherd insisting he will not be making a second approach.

Souness remains confident of signing at least one new striker before his side travel to Arsenal to kick off their Premiership campaign on August 14. But, in Dyer, the Magpies' manager believes he already has a player able to break down an opposition defence.

"People were telling me that, when we played Kieron further up the field (at the end of last season), it was the best they had seen him play in his time for the club," said Souness, who also sees transfer target Luis Boa Morte as a player with the ability to play off a lone striker.

"He was scoring goals and causing all sorts of problems to whoever he was playing against.

"I don't see him as a tough-tackling midfield player who is good at breaking things up. I see him as someone who terrorises defences if we can get him on the ball in the last third.

"An obvious criticism of Kieron Dyer, in his past life as a midfield player, would be he didn't score enough goals. We're going to try and get him to score goals from a position that he is going to be playing for us. He is someone, short term and long term, to build a team around."

Souness, who is also monitoring the availability of unsettled Liverpool striker Milan Baros, is hoping to make at least five more additions before the transfer window swings shut on August 31.

The first of those was completed late last night when Australian defender Craig Moore signed a two-year deal with the Magpies.

Moore, who was also attracting the interest of Sunderland and Wigan, was a free agent after being released by German side Borussia Monchengladbach following a bout of knee trouble.

The former Rangers defender, who can play at either centre-half or left-back, had been hoping to earn a three-year deal but, after talks with Shepherd on Tyneside yesterday, agreed to a shorter deal in order to get his career back on track.

"We have had glowing reports from Rangers about him and I am sure he will be a big asset to us," said Shepherd.

Moore's agent John Viola said: ''He's delighted with the move."

Meanwhile, Deportivo La Coruna striker Pedro Munitis has claimed his side should be taking a much greater winning margin to Newcastle for Tuesday's Intertoto Cup semi-final second leg.

Ruben Castro and Jorge Andrade scored in Depor's first-leg win on Wednesday but Lee Bowyer's strike gave the Magpies hope for the return match next week.

"I believe that we did a lot better than the final result suggests," said Munitis.

"But the match has left me with a very good feeling because in my opinion we were just as good in defence as attack and even though we still have things to work on it has all been very encouraging.

"I went home after the match feeling very happy because I believe that the game was a good sign for the future for us."

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