Newcastle manager Alan Pardew considered signing Danny Graham before the Gateshead-born striker joined Swansea.
St James' Park boss was tipped off about striker by Mackay
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew considered signing Danny Graham before the Gateshead-born striker joined Swansea.
The forward has had an excellent season at the Liberty Stadium and has scored 10 Premier League goals since a £3.5million move from Watford last July.
Newcastle, the team he supported as a boy, are the next side Graham will be aiming to shoot down when Swansea on Friday play hosts.
But the 26-year-old could have been a member of the visiting squad, with Pardew having looked at the forward after being nudged by former Watford boss Malky Mackay.
"I wouldn't say he got away," Pardew told
The Gazette. "But I knew about him, because Malky had tipped me off.
Clever stuff
"We just didn't have enough on him. We couldn't do enough work in terms of whether he was going to fit the bill for us.
"He's had a marvellous season. He's done really well. We will have to be on our guard against him, because he's their out-and-out finisher.
"All that clever stuff they do when they keep the ball all ends with him scoring. So if you stop him scoring, it makes it difficult for them to score."
But Pardew thinks Graham, who started his senior career in the Northern League with Chester-le-Street Town before turning professional with Middlesbrough, could one day be tempted to return to his roots.
"Who knows? There might be a day when he comes back to the North East," said the Newcastle boss.
