Gervinho still doubtful but allegedly deal done for Yohan Cabaye

Posted on May 28th, 2011 | 48 Comments |

Yohan Cabaye
French press says oui
Alan Pardew has attempted to persuade Gervinho to sign for Newcastle United and allegedly a deal is all but done for Lille midfielder Yohan Cabaye.

If the Daily Mail is to be believed (ahem), we should find out after next weekend whether or not a £15m offer for Lille striker Gervinho has been accepted.

Apparently Alan Pardew met the striker last week to try and persuade Gervinho – who has professed a preference to go to a club playing Champions League football – to sign with us rather than bidding rivals Arsenal and Liverpool.

Gervinho doesn’t want to make any decision about his future until after his Africa Cup of Nations qualifier for the Ivory Coast on (next) Sunday June 5th.

Unless the offer is a stunner and Pardew has done a top-notch job on the persuasion front, the player’s preference for Champions League football makes me doubtful about seeing Gervinho lining up in black and white next season. That would be a shame because the 24 year-old striker – who can also play out on the wing – looks to be in good form having scored 25 goals in 54 appearances for Lille, helping them on their way to the league title this year.

The French press is also speculating that we have all but secured the services of another Lille player: Yohan Cabaye. The 25 year-old is described as a box-to-box midfielder who has played for Lille for his entire senior career (since 2004), scoring 31 goals in 190 appearances. Last year he got his first senior caps for France, having played twice for the national team.

Allegedly, Cabaye – who has a £5m release clause in his Lille contract – met with Newcastle staff yesterday and the transfer will be formalised within the next 10 days.

I’m not sure how reliable the French press is with its football rumours but here’s a short video of some goals from Yohan Cabaye just in case:

Finally, Alan Pardew has been full of praise for Shane Ferguson, who he has managed to tie down to a 5 year contract. Pardew said:

“We’ve had a little bonus with Shane Ferguson towards the end of the season. He produced a couple of really good performances and they certainly suggest he’s going to be in and around the team next season. That’s great news for us, because there’s nothing better than producing a player yourself and watching him grow and progress in the first team.

“Of all the young players, Shane has been the one that’s surprised me in terms of the speed of his development. It’s all very well catching the eye in training, but he’s actually done it out there in the cut and thrust of a Premier League game.

“We’ve got a lot of good young players at the training ground, but to actually go out and play amongst men is what it’s about.

“It’s a really good sign that he’s been able to do that at such an early stage of his career. He’s got good pace and athleticism, and that’s a good start for any player wanting to play in the position he plays.”

Coolio. Have a good weekend everyone.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

48 Responses

  3. looks like a good player and if it is right then maybe gervinho might follow his team mate, defo looks like goodbye joey if it is right

  4. so deal for both players to be finalised in 10 days.
    OK, but not holding my breath

  6. Ditto Hugh, mostly because it has been kept under wraps until the last min. Seems to be the way we do business.

  7. Cabaye looks to be the kind of exciting player to get the fans up out of their seats too :lol:

  8. ben arfa , mr argentina ,tiote, cabaye, nolan , ferguson goslin maybe barton, definatly a strong midfield, i,d love to see feguson get a chance at lb though if jose goes and a couple of forwards would do nice , maybe bring in messi incase shola (bambi on ice) gets injured lol

  10. just thinking where we,d play him coz AP said he wants ben arfa to be a play maker in the middle , unless he gives arfa a free role behind striker (kind of messi role)

  11. Yeah I was just thinking the other day we really do need another fecking midfielder !!!!

  13. lol bb , i,d like to see a demba ba for free and gervinho partnership, 2 good strong strikers , let shola polish the boots and play him against the makems (only time he does owt)

  14. so you would take a chance on Baa then? He certainly knows where the goal is

  15. This gadgie Yohan Cabaye looks very good & very HBA esc imo, what a midfield we’ll have if we get those 2 up & running, not sure about Gervinho tho, not unless Pards has told him we’ll being playing CL footy within 2 seasons.. lol

  16. on a free transfer definatly, he played well for the hammers even when morale was rock bottom, its the kind of attitude we need in the camp, i thought we might of went for hargreeves on a free and give him a pay as you play contract , a good stand in for tiote the yellow card master

  18. seems like all our transfer targets are coming from France could broaden our search like :)

  20. Seems like we will have the french connection if these deals go through. The new amigos.

  21. Maybe newcastle will become the city of love, like Paris.

    I’m liking all the recent transfer sounds coming out, Cabaye sounds like he could work well with tiptoe in the middle, rather than Nolan who hasn’t got the pace or tackling quailties for the middle, or Gutherie who i last remember kicking his foot into the turf against West Brom and allowing them a free run on goal (Sol man desperately trying to run back…)

    and smudger’s surely gotta be released??

    anyone know when pre-season training/touring begins? – i’d like to get an idea as to when most of our deals will be done……

  23. I don’t buy this Cabaye thing. The French media is reporting that the English media is reporting that a deal is done.

    and smudger’s surely gotta be released??

    Oh god I hope so.

  24. I still hope barton remains here. noplan with all due respect do not care

  25. Gervinho can take his pick from staying at Lille with CL football or moving to Arsenal (with CL) or Tottenham with EC or Liverpool. So WTF would he join the Toon ?

    Pardwho must be smoking something very strong if he thinks he’s in with a shout (shakes head and considers throwing another dart at his newly acquired Pardwho dartboard)

  26. Any Lille player with any sense isnt going to jeopardise his chance of advancing his football career with CL football by joining the Toon which would have to be a backward step under the current management.

    We’ll always be buying the broken biscuits and BOGOF’s while the Fatman is in charge because no player with any real ambition will want to throw away a golden opportunity just to chance it in the BPL and play their heart out and come tenth. (If they’re lucky)

  27. I would rather have Joey than some unproven French player and for every ones info. Joey is on sixty grand a week and going nowhere, why should he ?
    He can then sign with another club as a free agent, commanding a higher salary because of the lack of any transfer fee, a win,win situation.

  28. Agreed. Why remove an integral part of this team and replace it with an indeterminate option which may, or may not, improve the team ?

    Answer because the Fatman doesnt like JB telling it like it is !

    If, as someone said the other day, we had to sell all our best players and start next season with youngsters, it would be worth it just to see the Fatman pick up his cash and phuck off !!!!!!!

  29. i think that given this season we were newly promoted, it’s gonna be hard to realistically atract CL-wanting players…but there’s certainly no danger in chucking 15m at the situation to see what happens.

    But then Suarez joined Liverpool when they were really struggling, and he expressed his appetitie for Uefa footy as a good starting point, so who knows:

    Either Gervinho will come (knowing he’ll start every game) and hoping to lift us into that top 6…or we’ll have to wait a season or two before we can realistically attract that level of talent.

    I’d actually be happier with Strurrige (again, unlikely), based on him being English, PL established, not filled with too many dreams of the CL yet, and someone pushing for next summer’s England EUROs

  30. “I’d actually be happier with Strurrige (again, unlikely)”

    …….but in terms of being realistic, Sturridge is more likely to move to SJP because he hasnt qualified for Europe nor has he played for a big team last season.

    However if its a choice between us or Bolton, I’d rate that as 50-50 which illustrates how little an attraction we are nowadays with the present board in place.

  31. We do this every close season.
    Get linked with lots of quality players, building up the fans hopes and dreams, then nothing much to show at the end of it.
    I would recommend everyone take all the links with a bucket of salt, until such time as they are wearing Black and White.

  33. lets hope ffs we have signed Cabaye and then Barton can sod off! I’m sorry all you Barton fans but how many games would he have got if ben arfa had been sound and now he is trying to blackmail the club!! we need more pace on the flanks and more creativity in the middle.

  35. Scott

    take it easy mate.

    Joey has been our most creative player. fact
    You could use the if word to create anything you want.

  36. nzedtoonman says:
    May 28, 2011 at 8:33 pm

    “out of uk , anyone give me stream fo manu barce game ??”

    nzed, too late now I know, but why don’t you stick http://www.myp2p.eu and a few other sports stream aggregator sites in your bookmarks for future reference? ;-)

  37. Andy man,
    you’re a reet traditionalist mate.
    :)
    Sturridge looks canny playing for bolton (mostly, not always), but he looked way off it playing for chelsea like.
    You’d rather pay well over the odds for english mediocrity than better priced french flair?
    Newcastle’s history alone is a draw to players from other countries, well beyond the likes of bolton. Howay man!
    :)

  38. METRO SPORT REPORTER – 14th March, 2011

    Joey Barton has 6 more years at the top, if he stays at Newcastle – Pardew
    Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has told Joey Barton he can have another six years playing at the highest level, if he decides to renew his contract and stay at St James’ Park.
    Related Tags:Joey BartonAlan PardewNewcastleAndy CarrollLiverpool

    Joey Barton can have six more years playing at the highest level, if he stays at Newcastle, his manager Alan Pardew has claimed (Pic: PA)
    Barton has yet to sign a new contract at Newcastle with negotiations believed to have stalled in the wake of Andy Carroll’s £35million transfer to Liverpool on the final day of the January transfer window.
    Pardew though believes his good relationship with the temperamental midfielder should help Barton in choosing to stay at Newcastle.
    ‘I have had a great relationship here with Joey. He’s got four or five years, maybe six, still left at the very top, and if he stays in the space he’s in now he will have a successful period,’ Pardew told the Evening Chronicle.

  40. I think that Is Pardews way of saying he is more than happy to give him an extended contract bt it’s not his choice to make.

  41. BSn9 – I think its ashley’s plan that he is off, but JB wont be made a fool of by the fat twat. I think JB will have the last laugh by staying to see out his contract and walking away for free next summer.

  43. I don’t y u lot are so mad all the time can’t u jus be positive for once. I must admit Barton has benn great ths yr even for team sprit but cabaye is twice the player Barton is and he still going to get better I have seen him live

  45. Hmmm ! guess it`s a Mexican standoff, with two headstrong guys, neither wanting to blink.
    Joe vs Mike, the tough guy (now reformed) vs the sports retailing Oligarch (unreformed)
    Joey is on big bucks, sixty grand a week I hear, with a season to go, so why go ?
    Ashley it`s rumored wants him out, course that could be nonsense, just another ploy in the negotiating process.
    It`s got to be hardball, with the club saying, were not talking, but that again is a normal scenario of the negotiating scene.
    Rumor has it that Everton, Joeys first love (like NUFC was AC`s)want him, for something in the four million range.
    The question arises will he renegotiate his sixty a week for a longer contract, with the Toffee`s?
    If so it could be done, but Everton just cant afford his
    present wages.
    Well the saga continues, who will blink first remains to be seen, if it means anything, Ferguson blinked first in the Rooney situation, can we expect a repeat ?
    Here`s hoping Joey get`s to stay !

  46. Frnchtoon

    Did you mean Frenchtoon ?
    So we are all mad is it ?
    Having seen a clip of our new French midfielder, a household name to all, you arrive at the conclusion he`s twice the player Barton is and will get even better.
    Even though Barton has been good for the team spirit (not “Broon Ale” I hope)
    And sure, if that`s what you want, we will all i`m sure make an effort to be more positive in future.

  47. “I have had a great relationship here with Joey. He’s got four or five years, maybe six, still left at the very top, and if he stays in the space he’s in now he will have a successful period” Pardwho the Clueless told the Evening Chronicle.

    The boy who cried wolf was a fable about a boy who kept telling lies and people within his community got fed up listening to the shlte he spouted. One day, when he really wanted people to believe him, the public voted with their feet and told him to “feck off”

  48. the lad (cabaye) looks good. the only problem is, we seem to be looking at a bunch of midfielders. depth is great but we need options up front. and if we do lose enrique, id like to see furgeson get a lot more time. he’s really impressed me. especially that little move against stoke.