Kevin Keegan, who quit as Newcastle United manager on Thursday had reportedly wanted to bring global superstar David Beckham to St James’ Park along with former Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard, according to The Sun.

Keegan is said to have asked Magpies owner Mike Ashley to fork out almost £200million on packages to land the three players. However, this audacious demand was firmly dismissed by Ashley, according to a source at the North East club.

Ashley told Keegan that he wanted young unknown players that would become the next Beckham or Lampard, but would not spend that sort of money to sign Henry from Barcelona or bring Beckham back to the Premier League from MLS side LA Galaxy.

The Newcastle insider told The Sun: “These were the players Keegan really wanted and he didn’t seem to care about how much they would cost.

“But the reaction of the board was ‘no chance — we’re not spending that sort of money on players like these.”

“As far as Mr Ashley was concerned, he didn’t want players that would cost so much. He wanted Keegan to find unknown youngsters who would become the next Beckham and Lampard of their generation.”