Newcastle United are ready to offer Sunderland midfielder Kieran Richardson bumper terms in the summer.

The News of the World says manager Joe Kinnear was knocked back with a beat-the-deadline bid for the midfielder who sank the Toon in October at the Stadium of Light.

Richardson, 24, will be offered £60,000 a-week to join Newcastle in the summer, which would make him one of the club's best paid players.