Coleman: We'll hold on to Luis

Chris Coleman today insisted relegation-threatened Fulham will not sell Luis Boa Morte to Newcastle in the transfer window.

The 27-year-old winger is one of a number of Coleman's players to be linked with transfers, including midfielder Steed Malbranque and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, with Derby stopper Lee Camp tipped to replace the latter.

Newcasle boss Graeme Souness has confirmed his interest in Portugal attacker Boa Morte to add to his January signings - and the player is flattered by the interest.

But Coleman said: "It would be suicidal for us to sell him. He is one of our key players. I'm not even going to talk about it more than that."

A club spokeswoman added: "It is quite simple, we are not considering selling any of our players, with emphasis on the word 'any'."

Coleman has a reputation for fighting his corner in the transfer market - beating off competition from Portsmouth and Villa to sign Pape Bouba Diop and Tomasz Radzinski last summer - but had to admit defeat a year ago when Manchester United showed interest in Louis Saha.

Boa Morte, who has also played for Southampton and Arsenal, has scored five goals in 17 starts this season despite a month's lay-off with a hamstring injury

He said: "Of course I would like to play in Newcastle. It is a club of different dimension to Fulham - the interest fills me with pride."