Vurnon Anita: Personal terms still to be thrashed out.Following on from my previous story, Ajax midfielder, Vurnon Anita, has confirmed that Ajax and Newcastle United have come to an agreement over a fee, but added that he would stay at his current club if good personal terms couldn’t be agreed.
Speaking in a post match interview after Ajax’s first game of the Eredivisie season (against AZ Alkmaar), Anita didn’t confirm if the fee was the alleged €8 million (around £6.3 million) figure being speculated by some quarters of the media, but he did confirm that he is yet to make contact with the Magpies to discuss personal terms, saying:
“Ajax and Newcastle have reached an agreement, but I have not spoken to Newcastle yet.”
He also sounded a note of caution though, adding:
“The complete picture must be good. If talks do not go well, I will stay at Ajax. But I think everything will be alright.”(more…)
Why the long face, Vurnon?There have been several reports in the English media about Newcastle United allegedly “reaching an agreement” over an fee for Ajax’s versatile midfielder and full back, Vurnon Anita.
Whilst is IS true that Ajax manager, Frank De Boer, has said offered some highly encouraging words saying that the clubs are “very close” to reaching agreement over the versatile midfielder and defender, he only said “very close,” not that an agreement actually had been reached, and there has been no mention from representatives of either clubs about a deal actually being agreed for €8 million (around £6.3 million), or that the player will be coming to Tyneside for a medical early next week, as has been reported by several sources.
Apart from De Boer’s words about the deal being very close, the Dutch legend also said:
“It would just be that we lost him and that’s a bad thing for us. I am glad that today he can play in any case, because it’s not around. But you should really consider that next week he’s no longer is.”(more…)
Highlights and Alan Pardew’s post match interviews from yesterday’s 4-1 defeat to Cardiff City, which saw the Magpies go 3-0 down within 20 minutes of the kickoff thanks to goals from Cardiff’s Aron Gunnarsson and Joe Ralls. Whilst Newcastle United did strike back with a Shola Ameobi penalty just after the restart, Cardiff completed a comprehensive defeat with a fourth goal in the 76th minute strike from Etien Velikonja.
In his post match interview, Alan Pardew blamed injuries to key players and the attitude of his squad for the rout. You can read more details about the injuries the squad are facing in my previous piece. (more…)
Speaking in his post match interview after Newcastle United’s abject 4-1 capitulation to the Bluebirds Red Dragons of Cardiff, Alan Pardew blamed injuries to top players for the defeat.
In a fairly confusing message from the Grey Gaffer, he also blamed the attitude of the squad because they thought they should have brought the big names, (presumably Ba and Cisse who both missed the trip) even though they were carrying knocks. However, you can listen for yourselves in the video above. (more…)
Should Newcastle United follow the Golden Rule?That is the maxim which has been known as “The Golden Rule” for several centuries, but how would Newcastle United feel if they were treated the way they have been treating some other clubs recently?
Make no mistake, there have been reams of complete fiction embroidered around our recent attempts to sign players in an attempt to titillate the excited Newcastle United fan. That empty mantra about Newcastle United not being “held to ransom” over players any longer has been repeated constantly, as if other clubs have been somehow unreasonable for refusing to sell their finest players for sums far below their true worth. The longest and most notable saga in this particular transfer window has been that of Lille right back, Mathieu Debuchy, and this is the case I will concentrate on mostly here, as this piece would be far too long if I looked at all of them in the same detail.
Just to get things straight, Newcastle United’s two bids for Debuchy were equivalent to around £3.9 million and £4.75 million respectively (€5 and 6 million). Hacks such as Lee Ryder from the Evening Chronic were incorrect in quoting them as £5 million and £6 million. As to whether this was deliberate, or just lazy and incompetant “journalism” I cannot say with complete certainty. Neither of these bids had a hope in hell of being accepted by a strong Champions League club for a French international player who has three years left on his current contract, and has been estimated as being worth as much as £10 million in the current market. Lille’s Chairman, Michel Seydoux, made it clear himself that we could have had Debuchy for an very reasonable £6.3 million (“Our price is €8 million, because he is a quality player” said Seydoux). However, that may not have been the point as even after Seydoux’s clarification, Derek Llambias persisted with the same strategy of making another derisory bid which he must have known would not be accepted, perhaps in the possible hope that Debuchy might go even further in his attempts to force the club into letting him go at a much reduced fee. In the event of course, it led to Lille withdrawing the player in complete exasperation with Newcastle. (more…)
