Rivaldo was too expensive - Sir Bobby

The £10million fee wouldn't have been a huge problem for the Toon, but his huge pay demands would have shattered the wage structure in place at St James Park.

"We could have had Rivaldo - the chairman looked very hard at the deal - but it was way above our budget," confirmed Sir Bobby today.

"It is stupid to break a club to bring in one top-class player who may be injured in his first game. Now clubs are saying 'no' and that is right."