Newcastle confirm Boumsong deal

The Rangers FC and France central defender Jean-Alain Boumsong has passed a medical at Newcastle United FC and will officially sign for the English side for a reported €11.3m when the transfer window opens tomorrow.

Defence strengthened
"I can confirm that we have reached an agreement with Rangers and with the player and the agreement is a five-and-a-half year deal," manager Graeme Souness said today. The signing is Newcastle's second in as many days following the capture of Chelsea FC full-back Celestine Babayaro. Souness also confirmed that he hopes to sign another French central defender, Sylvain Distain of Manchester City FC.

'Big influence'
Souness said of Boumsong: "I'm very pleased because we see that he will be a very big influence at this club both in the short term and the long term. He's a young man who has a great desire to be the very best. He's a communicator on the pitch and you can never have enough players like that."

France debut
The 25-year-old Boumsong only joined Rangers in the summer, signing a five-year deal for free following the expiry of his contract with AJ Auxerre. The son of a Cameroonian international, he made his France debut against Japan in June 2003 but appeared for just one minute at UEFA EURO 2004™.

UEFA Cup
Boumsong played 18 Scottish Premier League matches for Rangers and was also a regular in the UEFA Cup, making him ineligible for Newcastle in the knockout stages. The Magpies play SC Heerenveen in the Round of 32.