ROBSON WARNS MADRID OFF SHEARER
30-year-old Shearer quit the international game after Euro 2000 to focus on his commitments at club level, to the delight of the Newcastle fans, and Robson is in no hurry to cash in on his influential front man.
"Keep your hands off Alan Shearer," the former England boss warned Madrid in The News of the World. "If I sold him it would be like selling the Tyne Bridge.
"I am shocked and stunned, but not by the price they are quoting. Now he has quit the international scene, he has a minimum of four great years ahead of him. So I`m not surprised other clubs covet him."
Shearer has netted just once for the Tyneside club so far this season, but he has played an integral part in lifting the side to the top of the Premiership last week, helping to secure the Carling Manager of the Month award for Robson in August.
Since moving to Newcastle from Blackburn Rovers for £15 million in 1996, Shearer has scored 65 league goals for his home-town club and helped guide them to two FA Cup finals.
Despite Real president Florentino Perez's recent announcement that the club were some £172 million in debt, it was being claimed that the Spanish side are determined to bring in a big name player to replace Anelka up front.
Chilean striker Marcelo Salas had been top of the Spanish side's list of possible replacements for Anelka during the summer, but with Herman Crespo injured, Italian giants Lazio are unwilling to release Salas, and this has forced Perez and coach Vicente del Bosque to look elsewhere.
Perez saw his side kick off the new Liga season with a 2-1 victory over Valencia on Saturday, but there were signs that they were lacking the kind of target man in front of goal that Anelka provided for them last season.
Despite the apparent need for a forward, especially with Fernado Morientes currently on the sidelines, Real sporting director Jorge Valdano has insisted that his club are not in the market for a striker.
"We're not going to sign a striker," Valdano declared. "It's always good to have another forward but we're not going to make another signing. We have a squad with plenty of attacking players."
Meanwhile, reports in the English press are suggesting that Newcastle are looking to sign Chelsea's unsettled defender Frank Leboeuf, after sending scouts to see the Frenchman in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Arsenal this week. Robson is reportedly set to offer the London club £4.5 million for the player.
