Soccer: Kingz can't afford to sign Gazza

By RICHARD BOOCK

If you believe Chris Turner, there is as much chance of faded England star Paul Gascoigne playing for the Football Kingz this season as there is of his drinking buddy Jimmy "Five Bellies" Gardner winning the Boston Marathon.

For the second time in a couple of months Gascoigne was said to be on the verge of signing with the Kingz, prompting chief executive Turner to adopt a "read-my-lips" approach while denying the claims.

By the same token, Turner freely admitted fielding a tentative, albeit confidential approach about a month or so ago from a "former superstar", who was widely tipped to be Gascoigne, the former Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.

At present trying to get into shape for a contract with Washington-based club DC United, 35-year-old Gascoigne was linked to the Kingz this week in a British newspaper report and on a BBC radio interview.

That led to widespread speculation he was headed for Auckland.

But Turner said though he understood there had been some talks between Gascoigne's agent, Ian Elliott, and a third party in Britain, there had not been an involvement with the Kingz at any level.

"Ian Elliott rang me today and it was the first time I'd talked to him in my life," Turner said last night.

"He made it clear that Gascoigne was interested [in playing for us] and we made it equally clear that we weren't.

"We're working on a tight budget, we've bought our players and we can't afford to be signing up these former superstars even for three or four games."

Gascoigne, who won 57 England caps, has apparently been searching for a new employer since being released by English first division side Burnley at the end of last season and, according to Elliott, favoured a move to either the United States or the Far East.

He said Gascoigne - who toured New Zealand with Newcastle United as a teenager in the 1980s - turned down an offer last Friday to play for three months with lower league English club Carshalton, in favour of playing a few games in the Australian league.

The idea was to get him up to scratch for DC, who would not sign him unless he was match-fit.

Turner said the story had no legs and was not going anywhere because the Kingz had not signed, and would not be signing, Gascoigne during the season.

"There's no offer on the table. Gascoigne's not joining the club," he said.

One of the top attacking midfield players of the last decade, Gascoigne, who enjoyed huge publicity in England's tabloid newspapers in the early 1990s, was plagued by off-field problems including ill-discipline and heavy drinking.

Elliott said Gascoigne, whose fitness has often been the subject of debate, was in "good condition".