Steven Taylor WILL be offered new contract at Newcastle.
Posted on June 10th, 2010 | 86 Comments |
I wrote the other day that a contract would be offered to Taylor based on what Luke Edwards from The Journal was saying, and I attracted some stick for writing ‘any old guff’ whilst leaving people ‘disappointed’ that there wasn’t any quotes to back up what Luke Edwards and myself said.
Well now I have those quotes, from Chris Hughton no less, who has today confirmed to the Telegraph that Taylor wants to stay on Tyneside and help his adopted home town club survive in the Premier League rather than walking out of the St James’ Park exit door for pastures new, and that was something that has been a niggling fear for some fans for some time now.
“As I understand it, work is being done at the moment on a new contract for Steven Taylor and we are hopeful he will sign it,” Hughton said. “It is something that we have been working on for a while, but these things do take some time.”
“I’ve had a chat with Steven and he is very much a player we want to keep and from what he has told me, he is also someone who very much wants to stay at Newcastle United.”
To me that sounds like negotiations have already taken place and certain things have been agreed in principal. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but I see no point in getting a legal contract drawn up if certain terms of it are still likely to change.
It does sound positive though, and it could finally be a show of ambition from the club that indicates we are building for the future. A huge part of next season will be dependant not only on what players we can bring in, but also by making sure we keep the best of our current players on Tyneside.
“As well as looking to sign new players this summer, which I am confident we will do, it is just as important that we keep the players we want to keep – Steven is definitely one of those,” Hughton added.
“He may have missed the end of last season because of injury, but he was a key member of the side before then and he played a big role in getting us back into the Premier League. He is an important player for us and I want him to stay at the club.”
So it does sound, for once, that positive moves are being made behind the scenes at Newcastle, and Taylor has to be a player to keep as he can play in a number of positions. That could come in handy as it now looks like Danny Simpson will miss the first few weeks of the new season whist he recovers from a foot operation. Taylor could slot in at right-back for the first few games of the season, that is of course if we dont actually sign another one in the meantime.
Slowly but surely, things look to be getting done in preparation for next season, and that should ease the concerns of some fans. The club is starting to move forward, albeit at a pace on a level with coastal erosion, but it is moving forward all the same.
If Taylor signs a new deal. It effectively signs us a right back and centre half we didn’t have for half of last season. So its a great start!