Shearer hails bargain Woody

Woodgate completed a £9 million move to St James' Park in January while Manchester United forked out a British record £29 million to sign Ferdinand over a year ago.

With the former defensive partners set to go head-to-head in Saturday's mouth-watering Premiership clash between the two Uniteds, Shearer is in no doubt as to which club landed the bargain.

The Magpies skipper holds Woodgate in the highest regard and believes the 23-year-old will soon be established in the centre of England's defence, possibly alongside Ferdinand.

"Jonathan has been magnificent for us so far," said Shearer. "I am a big fan of Rio Ferdinand.

"But when you look at what Man United paid for Rio and what Newcastle paid for Jonathan, well₻

"We paid £9 million or £10 million and I think that Jonathan would have been a snip at £20 million.

"I am a big fan of his and if he keeps turning in top performances he'll soon be back in the England team never mind the squad.

"Woody is also a strong character with what he has gone through."

Shearer is also targeting the St James' Park showdown as a chance to exact revenge after the Premiership champions inflicted a humiliating 6-2 defeat on The Magpies in April.

He added: "I am glad we are playing Manchester United early in the season. It gives us a nice chance to make up for that defeat in April when we lost 6-2.

"Manchester United were one of only two teams to finish above us last year and it would be nice to reduce that figure again this season."

Adding spice to an already tasty tussle on Tyneside is the prospect of Portuguese whizz-kid Cristiano Ronaldo being handed his first Red Devils start.

Magpies midfielder Hugo Viana is fully aware of his compatriot's abilities from their time together at Sporting Lisbon and feels his close friend is ideally suited to The Premiership.

"Ronaldo is a very good player for England because he is quick and strong and has great technique," said Viana.

"For a winger, you have to be skilful and he has the technical ability. You can give him the ball and he will make something happen.

"He is my closest friend and we used to do everything together. We trained and played in the same teams and dreamed we would play for Sporting and Portugal.

"Ronaldo was always a special talent and very confident he would achieve his goals - even when he was 12 - and I am happy for him that he has joined Manchester United."