Are Newcastle prepared to let Colo and/or Simpson go?
Posted on February 28th, 2012 | 22 Comments |
It seems like the contracts of Coloccini and Simpson have been ‘outstanding’ for ages and new attempts to get both players to sign new contracts this week have apparently failed. Nevertheless, Alan Pardew is upbeat about the negotiations and said:
“We’ve had conversations. I can see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel now. I can understand why fans are concerned, but we’re making progress.
“It’s not easy, contracts, and we’re trying to do what’s best for the football club and what’s best for the player. Sometimes, they are worlds apart.
“There’s been a bit of antagonism with contracts in the past. There’s a lot more communication here and I think we’re trying to work through the process in a sensible manner.”
The press have suggested that Danny Simpson has turned down a £25,000/week 5-year deal and, although he still has 18 months left on his contract, there have been rumours in the past that he might favour a move away from Newcastle (and the higher salary that might bring him).
Simpson seems to have received plaudits and criticism in roughly equal measure from fans since his £750,000 transfer from Manchester United in August 2009, but my guess is that the Toon hierarchy will soon reach the ‘take it or leave it’ stage with him and he’ll be allowed to leave if he doesn’t sign on the dotted line. I’m not sure what he’s worth now but it’ll be more than the £750,000 we paid for him and he could certainly be sold at a profit.
Meanwhile, Colo – who is allegedly the Toon’s highest paid player – has also apparently turned down a new ‘4-year plus 1-year option’ deal he was offered and there have been reports in the press that further negotiations have now been postponed until the summer. But when Colo was asked if he wanted to remain at Newcastle he said:
“Of course I want to stay. We’re speaking. It’s a normal process. Everything’s okay.”
I think most would consider Colo to be ‘important’ to the side, although things haven’t looked so good in central defence since his partnership with Steve Taylor was broken up after Taylor’s injury.
Coloccini is 30 now and I reckon a 4+1 year contract is as long as he’d get anywhere. I reckon the club – and in particular Alan Pardew – will battle a bit harder to keep him than they would Simpson, but as we’ve seen in the past they’re quite prepared to let players go if they don’t take deals the club thinks are fair.
Having said all that, it’s probably not worth making too much of things at this stage. A certain amount of negotiation is normal in contract talks. But in answer to the title of this post, I’d suggest that – yes – Newcastle will let both Colo and Simpson go if they have to, although I have no idea where the limit is on what they’re prepared to pay them.
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.
Good question Hugh – and unfortunately there’s only one recently-looking-quite-trim person who really knows the answer – as everyone dances to his tune at United these days.
There’s an old saying “you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”. Nobody wants to go back to paying fortunes for “Michael Owens” – but there has to be some flexibility between the going rate for a player and the rigidity of Ashley’s policies if, and it’s a big “if”, they want to keep both players.
Personally I reckon if they both went (no doubt for good money), Santon was switched to right back and United bought a classy french left back and centre half of the Carr variety in the summer – would anybody be worried about either of these players halfway through next season?