Strangely though, it was just tacked on to the end of yet another story announcing that the club have filed their annual accounts at Companies House. This is what they wrote about the signing:
“The club yesterday completed the signing of the French winger Romain Amalfitano from Reims on a three-year deal.” (more…)
Rumours are circulating one again about our interest in Dijon midfielder Benjamin Corgnet. I’m not entirely sure why they’ve started up again at this stage of the season but the consensus in the press is that he’s likely to move to Newcastle in the summer.
We did make a bid for him in January, about which Dijon Coach Patrice Carteron said:
“He stays. We had a direct approach from Newcastle but Benjamin is of the same opinion as us, and wants to continue to complete a full season in Ligue 1.
“At the end of the season, of course, he will be allowed to leave. It is a good thing for him to be able to stabilise at the highest level. Newcastle’s offer was very high.”
Very high eh? I wonder what sort of offer that was. According to ‘transfermarkt’ he’s valued at approximately £3.1m, although I’m still not sure where transfermarkt gets its valuations from because the French press have been talking in terms of €8m-10m. (more…)
Sullivan, who of course is one of the owners of Ba’s prvious club, West Ham, claims to have heard amongst other things that Demba Ba would receive no less than 50% of any transfer fee should he be sold on from NUFC, also confirming that his latest club did pay around £2 million to Ba’s agent. He also claimed that Newcastle United bid £4 million for Ravel Morrison, even though he signed to Dirty David’s West Ham for a package which he claimed was only “up to £2 million.” When the transfer went through in the January transfer window, the media only reported a fee of up to £1 million. More on that story later though. Lets get back to the main feature of this story, Demba Ba and his Newcastle United contract.
Of course, as we already know, the African goal machine had a get out clause in his West Ham contract, something which Sullivan bitterly regrets in hindsight seemingly, and the reason why he is now playing for us. However, if what Sullivan said is true, receiving 50% of any subsequent transfer fee should he be sold on from Newcastle would cartainly be another huge incentive for his Tyneside move!
But enough of my pre waffle. After confirming that Ba did have the relegation get out clause from West Ham, Sullivan was asked by the interviewer, Iain Dale:
“How did that work? Did we pay money to Hoffenheim?”
To which Sullivan replied: (more…)
Watch the magic window and keep updated on all the Newcastle United deadline drama.
Ok, Here we go…
Just a few hours to go before we learn of any in and/or outs on the final day of this January’s transfer window.
As we’ve already signed Papiss Demba Rodney Cisse early in the window for a reported £9m, attention has swung violently towards the defensive side of things. I think it’s safe to say that most fans of Newcastle United would like to see some new blood in the centre back and fullback positions. It seems that the scouting team have been checking out many players that play these positions for what seems like years. It could actually be years! (more…)
In contrast with the past, United go about their business quietly and sign up some gems before other clubs are alerted and can compete. We don’t always get the players we want of course, but that’s life!
Take the most recent example of our interest in Watford defender Adrian Mariappa. Nobody saw that coming, and it was Watford who let the negotiations out of the bag, with their boss Sean Dyche telling anyone who would listen “Newcastle United are miles away with their bid”. However, the game is afoot – the Hornets have refused to give United a valuation for the player and are obviously just waiting to see how high they can get the price to go as the clock ticks towards transfer deadline day. (more…)