Newcastle United have beaten Liverpool to the signing of French midfielder Sylvain Marveaux.

Newcastle land winger

Delight

Newcastle United have beaten Liverpool to the signing of French midfielder Sylvain Marveaux. The 25-year-old had appeared on course to sign for the Anfield club on a Bosman free transfer. But now Newcastle have nipped in to poach Marveaux and offer him a five-year deal, which he has accepted. The left-sided midfielder has been on Tyneside to finalise the move, which will shock Liverpool, who had presumed they had his signature in the bag. Newcastle looked at Marveaux earlier in the year, but it was presumed they had given up when Liverpool made their move. Marveaux is now set to become Newcastle's third signing of the summer, and he is the third French-born player to join following on from Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba."It's a great coup to have signed Sylvain, who has received interest from a number of other clubs," said Toon chief Alan Pardew. "He may not be well known to many of our fans but he is a real talent and a player we have been keeping an eye on for some time. "It's been a good couple of days for us on the transfer front." Reports emerged on Friday that Marveaux had failed his medical at Anfield, but he confirmed this was not the case. "I do not want to go into details, but I did not sign for Liverpool because there was a contractual disagreement between the parties Thursday night," he confirmed to