Hodgson close to Duff deal, rules out Viduka

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson revealed on Friday that he is close to signing Newcastle winger Damien Duff but he ruled out a deal for Australia striker Mark Viduka.

Hodgson has offered Newcastle around four million pounds for Republic of Ireland winger Duff, who played under Hodgson at Blackburn.

The 30-year-old is keen to move back to west London where he spent three years with Chelsea and Hodgson admitted talks are close to a conclusion.

“The clubs are talking and I hope the deal will go through. He’s a player that interests us,” he said.

“Damien and I go back a long way from when we worked together at Blackburn. He wants to come back to west London.

“Damien had injury problems at Chelsea and has done well at Newcastle given the turmoil there.

“Every time he’s played for Ireland he’s consistently been one of their best performers.

“We know what we’d be getting with Damien – he’s an experienced and quality player.”

While Duff is set to move to Craven Cottage, former Newcastle forward Viduka has opted against a switch to Fulham according to Hodgson, who met the Socceroos star to discuss a potential deal.

“I met Mark when he came down to London and spent a bit of time with him to ascertain what his intentions were,” he said.

“I wanted to know if he wanted to continue playing in the Premier League but by the end of our discussion it was pretty clear he’d made his decision to leave it behind and start a new life.

“With Mark it was always going to be a long shot because we realised when he left Newcastle it wasn’t to go somewhere else, it was to start a new life.”