Graeme Souness has revealed Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd had almost total control of transfer deals while he was manager at St James' Park.

He said: "In my time at Newcastle one man and one man alone decided which player came to the club and which player left, and it was not the manager. It was the chairman.

"He controlled how much Newcastle paid for a player, how much salary that individual received and how much the agent would be paid.

"I was not involved in any discussions or meetings about those transactions. Not about the fee, the salary or the agents' fees.

"The only exception was the Boumsong deal. I knew the details of that transfer fee because he was coming from Rangers and I am a close friend of their chairman David Murray. All the rest was the chairman's business."