On another day of frantic activity at St James' Park, the Magpies boss headed for London to meet up with the 31-year-old Australian as he flew in from a family holiday to finalise his move from Middlesbrough.

Viduka was undergoing a medical as the remaining details of his free transfer from the Riverside Stadium were thrashed out with Allardyce also waiting for his £5.5million swoop for Manchester City midfielder Joey Barton to be rubber-stamped.

The manager said: "I sincerely hope Viduka's signing goes through - and I am sure it will once he passes his medical in London today as he has already agreed the terms and conditions of his contract."

It will be a case of third time lucky for Newcastle if they do, as expected, finally get the former Celtic and Leeds striker to sign what is thought to be a three-year deal.

The move would see Viduka link up with record signing Owen, £10million recruit Obafemi Martins and homegrown talent Shola Ameobi, although speculation continues over the futures of Owen and Martins.

Allardyce said: "We are getting a player with vast experience in Premiership football and a natural goalscorer.

"He has the size and stature to lead our front line and is direct competition for Shola Ameobi, who is fit again now.

"It is common knowledge that every manager in the game wants two players for every position, and that is what we will have at Newcastle United next season as far as our strikers are concerned.

"It is a great start for us as we already have Oba Martins and Michael Owen who can play off a big man. It is all looking very exciting."

Viduka will head off on international duty before returning to Tyneside for pre-season training, where he will be joined by Barton, who agreed terms earlier this week.

Allardyce is confident of getting the best out of the 24-year-old, whose temperament he believes he can harness to get the best out of an undoubted talent.

The former Bolton boss has challenged the England international to put his reputation behind him and concentrate on the task of proving himself as a player all over again - and that includes adding to Newcastle's firepower.

Allardyce said: "Now we have Michael Owen, Mark Viduka and Oba Martins, who all score goals, and Joey usually chips in with seven or eight a season from midfield, so we will really be expecting to improve our goals tally next season."

The Magpies have wasted little time in pushing through their summer recruitment plans, and Allardyce has confirmed he is also pursuing out-of-contract Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim.

Paris St Germain'sDavid Rozehnal and Wanderers striker Nicolas Anelka are among a lengthy list of players to have been linked with the club, although the manager is giving little away.

However, his proactive stance during his first week back at his desk after a short break has gone down well with the club's fans.

Mark Jensen, editor of fanzine The Mag, said: "Recent seasons have been impaired because when we have signed a player, it has been not long before the start of the season or not long after the start, as with Albert Luque, Michael Owen and Nolberto Solano.

"But as it stands, we are bringing in two genuine first-team players in Barton and Viduka who have not cost a penny because of the Scott Parker deal.

"I know Barton comes with a lot of baggage, but for me, he has got a lot more to his game than Parker.

"All credit goes to Sam Allardyce for getting these deals done as quickly as he has."

Meanwhile Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce is confident he can tame midfielder Joey Barton as he continues his rebuilding work.

The Magpies are preparing to announce the 24-year-old's capture after sealing a £5.5million switch from Manchester City earlier this week.

Barton will arrive at St James' Park with a reputation which precedes him, but Allardyce, who has also confirmed his interest in Bolton defender Tal Ben Haim, has no qualms about taking him on.

He said: "The bottom line is I have got a great player. The quality of the player is the most important thing. Sometimes they come with difficult characters and can be difficult to handle. But I have had players with worse reputations than Joey Barton's and I never found them to be a problem because of the way I communicate with them and the way they communicate with me.

"He came here because he wants to win things, and that is why I have come here. We have got the same ambitions. I am here to improve his career. He has my respect and he won't let me down.

"My side of the job is to temper the other difficulties he has run into in life, not so much on the field, but off the field. I have asked him, as a maturing young man in his mid-20s, to curb that side of his life and make sure he focuses on what he loves best.

"We want him to progress rapidly as a footballer at Newcastle and hopefully in the England set-up again because that's where he wants to be. He is good enough, but he has got to do a lot of work off the field to get back to that. I am confident I can handle him."

Newcastle beat off competition from big-spending West Ham to land Barton, who committed himself to the Tyneside club after holding talks in the north-east on Tuesday.

Allardyce said: "I have spent a fair amount of time talking to him, trying to persuade him to come here because there was competition.

"We used my persuasive powers as a manager and the persuasive powers of Newcastle United as a football club to get him to come and, after a long, hard negotiation, we managed to do that.

"He was due to talk to the other club that had an offer accepted, but we managed to persuade him not to do that.

"We told him we were the best place for him and we have got a young, exciting midfielder with great attributes who is coming into the prime of his career.

"He is nailed on as one of the top midfielders in the Premiership for me.

"He is a character, sometimes in the wrong sort of way, but he is a strong character who has strong opinions on how the game should be played.

"Those sorts of players excite me because they have got something to say and they are not afraid to say it."

Allardyce confirmed his pursuit of out-of-contract Israel international Ben Haim.

He told the Newcastle-based Journal: "Yes I am interested in Tal Ben Haim. He is a free agent and hopefully available.

"He has got three or four years of experience in the Premiership and I know him inside out.

"We had a good working relationship, we grewin the Premiership together and I am very interested in working with him again."