Andy Cole picture
	Position	Striker
	P.O.B.	Nottingham
	D.O.B	15/10/1971
	Weight	12st 04
	Height	5' 10"

Fulham are ready to hijack Newcastle's move to re-sign Manchester United striker Andy Cole.

Craven Cottage manager Jean Tigana is prepared to match United's £10million-plus valuation of Cole in his bid to find a new partner for French star Louis Saha, another former Newcastle player.

Tigana has been scouring Europe for a proven hitman. He has already missed out on the Czech Republic's Jan Koller and, according to Inter Milan, has made an enquiry about their Turkey striker Hakan Sukur.

But England man Cole - whom United insist is not for sale - is his No.1 target and Tigana has been monitoring the situation since the arrival of £19.5m Holland striker Ruud van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford in the summer.

Cole, 29, has come off the bench in United's opening Premiership games against Fulham and Blackburn. In Sunday's 3-2 win over Tigana's side his introduction immediately transformed the champions.

On Thursday it emerged that Newcastle have made United aware of their renewed interest in Cole, who left St James' Park six years ago in the £7m deal which took Keith Gillespie to Tyneside.

Manager Bobby Robson denied any official bid, but chairman Freddy Shepherd has let it be known he would dearly love to see Cole back. Whether Newcastle - who have spent £16m on France winger Laurent Robert and Wales striker Craig Bellamy - could afford to get into a bidding war is questionable.

Despite Newcastle's interest, it seems more likely that Cole would welcome a move to London. He started his career with Arsenal before a loan spell of 13 games with Fulham.

United are playing down Cole transfer talk. Manager Sir Alex Ferguson, when asked if Cole was on the verge of a move, said: 'No. The speculation doesn't help the club, it doesn't help the player and it doesn't help the other clubs.'