Sign him up!Those words in the headline aren’t my own, but they are my interpretation of what Marseille boss Didier Deschamps has had to say today.
Perhaps it’s understandable that most of the news seems to be about Ben Arfa. After all, there is no club football coming at the weekend, and to be fair the injury to Ben Arfa is just about the biggest talking point of the moment for us.
Most of us are aware that the signature of Ben Arfa was to be triggered after the young Frenchman played 25 times for Newcastle. Given the quality of the lad that wouldn’t have been a problem and we would have signed him automatically I would imagine. This catastrophic injury though has put a proverbial cat amongst the proverbial pigeons however.
There is no way that Ben Arfa is going to play 25 games this season now, which has led to a lot of questions and speculation regarding the future of our new crowd favourite. Just what does it mean? Will we sign him regardlesss? Is the deal now off? They are all questions that I have heard and read over the past few days. (more…)
Signing number four?Newcastle are apparently set to make signing number four of the summer, if various press reports are to believed anyway.
The Daily Mail seems to think that FC Twente midfielder Cheick Tiote was in Newcastle last night having a medical ahead of a proposed £3.5 million move to Tyneside, although any move would be subject to a work permit being granted.
Now I know what you are thinking about it being in the The Daily Mail and so on, but this has also been confirmed by George Caulkin who is one of us by all accounts. I wouldn’t think he would lead us up the garden path to be fair, and he did claim that Tiote is/was holed up in Jesmond. (more…)
Dastardly Dassier.Marseille president, Jean-Claude Dassier has decided to hit out at Newcastle over the way that they are handling the transfer of Hatem Ben Arfa.
As each day passes, a deal is becoming less likely to happen, in my opinion anyway, which is frustrating considering that it would appear that the player is there to be signed.
Apparently Marseille have no issue with the player going out on loan, but they also want a clause which would mean that the transfer would become permanent if Newcastle managed to avoid the drop, which seems pretty reasonable to me to be fair. However, the way Marseille have acted throughout this whole affair makes me wonder if they are actually telling the truth? (more…)
Real rumours or false dawns?Day 52, and still there is no conclusion to the series of dramatic events that have unfolded regarding the transfer/loan/whatever of Hatem Ben Arfa.
It appeared that Werder Bremen were close to sealing a deal for the Frenchman yesterday, which has been denied by them today. Just another rumour then.
At the end of the day it would appear that Newcastle still have a chance of signing the player, although heaven knows just what is going on right now. Your guess is as good as mine, but until anything is confirmed by Newcastle, or one of the other 20,000 clubs that Marseille have hawked the player around, everything is just a rumour. (more…)
Ben Arfa - Decision time looms.The whole will he/won’t he saga that has been the Ben Arfa transfer story looks like it could finally be coming to an end soon, and about bloody time to!
The whole episode has been a mess from start to finish and I, along with many others, would just like to see it settled one way or the other.
Rumours are rife at the moment as a whole host of potential suitors begin to creep out of the woodwork, according to the press anyway. Newcastle still have a chance of signing of him, although nothing will be definate until we see it with our own eyes on the official website. Who knows, there could yet be some twists and turns left yet! (more…)
