Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear has revealed that he is expecting to part company with Mark Viduka in the summer.
The Australian striker has only recently returned to the Magpies' first-team fold after a troublesome back problem.
He has seen his 18-month stint on Tyneside blighted by injury, but remains an integral part of the St James' Park set-up.
His physical attributes help to add a different dimension to the Newcastle side, allowing him to provide the perfect foil to the natural goalscoring instincts of Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins.
However, Viduka - along with Owen, Steve Harper, Nicky Butt and Shola Ameobi - will be out of contract in the summer and is yet to be offered a new deal.
When questioned on the matter, Kinnear insisted that new terms have not been forthcoming because questions marks remain over the 33-year-old's plans for the future.
"The word around the club when I first arrived was that he was retiring and going back to Australia at the end of the season," the Magpies manager told the Evening Chronicle.
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