Deal dead in the water now?Does the latest injury to Newcastle United target Erik Pieters scupper any chance of a transfer?
23 year-old PSV left back Erik Pieters has been an alleged target for Newcastle United for quite some time now. Last summer we reportedly offered PSV €7m for the player and PSV went so far as to say the offer was ‘good’ in terms of amount but they withdrew from negotiations when they couldn’t be sure of getting a replacement for him before the transfer window closed.
The idea that we might still sign him has been bubbling under ever since and back in April The Mirror reported that it was pretty much a ‘done deal’.
If you remember, Pieters suffered a foot injury back in October which kept him out of action for four months, and he suffered another foot injury last month the puts him out for the rest of the season and scuppers his chances of playing for The Netherlands in Euro 2012. The first injury was a broken metatarsal and the second injury is a hairline fracture, but I can’t find anything to say whether the injuries are related or even if they’re to the same foot.
Back in mid-April Pieters still hoped to be fit for Euro 2012 when he said:
“It is very disappointing news. I will strictly adhere to the medical team’s rehabilitation programme. The gravity of the injury will be known in three weeks. I will give 200 per cent to get back to match fitness.” (more…)
Potential target?Newcastle United have been linked with two defenders from the Dutch league recently: Douglas and Erik Pieters. But is there anything to subtantiate the rumours?
The Chronicle – and other elements of the press – have been linking us with FC Twente’s Douglas Franco Teixeira recently.
The 6ft 4in 24-year old central defender has apparently told FC Twente boss Steve McClaren that he wants to leave at the end of the season and the Premier League is his destination of choice.
Apparently a ‘source’ at FC Twente said:
“It’s not a case of if Douglas wants to play in the Premier League – it’s simply when. He’s told the manager he wants to go.
“Steve McClaren also has a new defender lined up to replace him in the summer and appreciates that Douglas wants to move on.”
Anyway, on the back of this report I thought I’d do some digging around in the Dutch press to see if I could find some sort of indication that Newcastle is indeed in the running. (more…)
Yanga-Mbiwa alleged latest targetNewcastle United allegedly turn their interest towards a 22 year-old Montpellier defender while both Simpson and Coloccini are yet to sign new contracts.
The last flurry of transfer speculation about Newcastle was mainly about attackers and, in the interests of balance, the press have been hitting us with speculation about defenders – either new or current – over the last few days.
The Daily Mail and The Sun, for example, have us interested in Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, which is easy for them to say. He’s 22, plays for Montpellier and is a naturalised Frenchman originally from the Central African Republic, which is a place I really like on account of it being exactly where it says it is. A sort of geographical onomatopoeia.
Anyway, Yanga-Mbiwa started out as a right-back and has more recently played as a centre-back, which is the sort of versatility managers like. He’s been at Montpellier for his entire footballing career and has also notched up 8 appearances for France’s under-21 team. Arsenal were linked with the player, who is contracted with Montpellier until June 2013, at the end of last season. (more…)
Krkic - latest alleged Toon targetTypically, the weekend’s press contained many rumours linking Newcastle United to various players, some of which I provide a summary of in this article.
Amidst the rants of Llambias and the mutterings of discontent or otherwise about the stadium renaming, there was also a healthy serving of transfer speculation on the weekend.
One such nugget of gossip has us interested in Roma’s Bojan Krkic. He’s 21, can play on the wing or up front and is said to be worth somewhere in the range of £10m-£15m, which sounds at the upper range of what Ashley might pay for a player but perhaps just about feasible.
There is however a potential problem with his contract situation. Roma bought him from Barcelona for €12m in July 2011 and Barcelona have an option to buy him back after 2 years for €13m unless Roma pay another €28m to get out of the buy-back clause. So even assuming there’s any truth to the rumour and that we are indeed interested in the player, it might prove to be a tricky contract to negotiate.
Krkic’s tally is 29 goals in 112 games, although I have no idea where he played for all those games and in how many he was merely used as a substitute. In his time at Barcelona he seemed to be billed as a striker, although he was behind Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa in the pecking order and I would imagine that he would have been a substitute for many of his 104 league games for them. (more…)
Most likely optionErik Pieters’ alleged move to Newcastle United appears to be dead in the water, interest in Aly Cissokho is cooling, so Davide Santon seems the most likely to be our new left-back.
It seems press reports that Erik Pieters is ‘close’ to joining Newcastle are wide of the mark if the Dutch press is anything to go by.
Various Dutch newspapers are reporting that Pieters will stay at PSV after talks with Newcastle broke down last week.
It’s seems that a disagreement about transfer conditions was at the heart of the problem, although some of the press are suggesting that, because the talks were dragging on, PSV withdrew anyway because they would not be able to find anyone to replace Pieters at this late stage in the transfer window.
Pieters’ agent, Piet van der Pol, said: “PSV will not sell Peter.” (more…)
