SOCCER: Even by their occasionally surreal standards, Newcastle United had a day to remember yesterday.

As the club decided to accept a bid of £14 million for Jonathan Woodgate from Real Madrid, a bid peculiar in concept, timing and size, Kieron Dyer issued an apology to his manager Bobby Robson that some fans may feel was too little, too late, coming five days after Dyer refused to play in right midfield at Middlesbrough.

Dyer had been booed by a section of fans at England's friendly at St James' Park on Wednesday night, but the focus on Dyer moved swiftly to Woodgate yesterday.

The sheer scale of Madrid's offer means that Newcastle will sell Woodgate, a player they bought for £8 million in January last year, and the deal is sufficiently advanced for Woodgate to appear in Madrid over the next 24 hours.

Madrid-based sports daily AS ran a front page headline yesterday proclaiming "Woodgate will be Real's new centre-back," while Marca agreed with its rival, reporting that "Woodgate is the centre-back that Madrid want."

Spanish media later reported the defender would be offered a contract of between four and five years if he passed his medical today.

Woodgate's representatives, SFX, said last night they expect the transfer to be completed soon. SFX know the territory as they are Michael Owen's agents and were David Beckham's when he joined Real last summer.

Robson said he was reluctant to see "the best central defender in the country" depart but added: "It's a huge sum of money and there is also a moral issue: do we deny him this opportunity?

"We know what we will have to replace, I have no doubt the money will be spent wisely."

Robson will have to act quickly to replace the England defender before the transfer window closes on August 31st and last night the names of the Chelsea pair William Gallas and Robert Huth were mentioned.

The 21-year-old Coventry City man Calum Davenport is another central defender attracting Newcastle's attention.

As Dyer was being abused on Wednesday, a rumour had gone around St James' that Real Madrid were trying to buy Woodgate. Few believed it, but Real negotiators had already been at the stadium in the afternoon.

Woodgate is a fine player when he plays but the big problem is the 24-year-old takes the field nowhere near enough. His average number of league games over the last four seasons at Leeds and Newcastle is 18, less than 50 per cent a season.

Having been injured again - Woodgate missed the end of last season and the European Championship with a thigh muscle rupture - he has not kicked a football for four months and is in Munich receiving treatment from the German specialist Hans Muller-Wohlfahrt.

Then again, Woodgate was injured when Newcastle bought him from Leeds, and presumably Real have assessed his medical records and his history.

The limited time available before the window closes means Real will want Woodgate examined, so that if he fails they can pursue other players ahead of the first game of the La Liga season at Real Mallorca next weekend.

While trying to comprehend Real's move for Woodgate, Robson and Newcastle's fans also had to take in Dyer's belated apology.

After a meeting yesterday Dyer issued an announcement that he claimed to be heartfelt, though whether supporters think so will be illustrated tomorrow at the home game against Spurs.

"Kieron regrets the whole incident very much," said Robson. "He still has a future here. I hope people will forgive and forget."