Kevin Keegan was set to travel to Dundee in order to watch Marc Rieper in action once again before he would make his mind up on whether to permanently sign the player or not. Should Rieper want the move to Tyneside, he faced competition from “eight or nine” United targets. It was unlikely that Keegan would hurry his decision since he feels confident his squad was strong enough to hold out until carefully selected additions were brought in.
Kevin Keegan said “We really have got a good squad here but the four injuries we have had have taken the edge off us. I doubt if we’d make a decision after one match. We’d like to watch him again. It is not about three or four hundred grand here. We’re talking about over a million pounds here. That to me means he has to be ready-made. And you have to be confident that he’s not going to take a year to adapt to English Football. We are not in the risk business anymore with that type of signing. They have got to be top-notch.”