What's the odds of him staying at the Toon?Reflections on Saturday’s game and a look ahead at what might and might not be happening in the January transfer window as far as Newcastle United is concerned.
How did we not win that game on Saturday? Swansea have one of the best defences in the league but luck was certainly on their side too, particularly in the first half where we were totally dominant throughout. I suppose it’s a case of what goes around comes around – I’ll be the first to admit we rode our luck a lot in the first half a dozen games this season.
The return of Colo was welcome and I thought he was fantastic on Saturday. Likewise I was impressed with Santon and Jonas. As to Obertan, Alan Pardew has been springing to his defence after he noticed the crowd getting on his case a bit. Pardew said:
“That’s a bit harsh. Because he is so quick you always want him bursting down the outside. I thought he played well first half. He created three or four situations for us. He is a player who has only played 14 Premier League games, he is learning, his discipline was much better defensively but when you get a 0-0, there can be frustration from the crowd.
“Overall, I though the crowd was very positive and I thank them for that. Yes, we want to win. We want the possibility of the top six. Don’t make me think I am happy with the draw.” (more…)
Chelsea sniffing around?Newcastle United midfielder Cheick Tiote is rumoured to be on Chelsea’s shopping list for January with – supposedly – a £20m bid in the offing. But would Ashley sell him?
The latest news from the rumour-filled world of Toon speculation has Chelsea considering a £20m bid for Cheick Tiote in January. The report, coming from Brian McNally in the Sunday Mirror, seems to suggest that Tiote would indeed be sold, although only if big bucks are offered.
On the prospect of losing players in January, Pardew said:
“It is going to cost a hell of a lot of money, a hell of a lot of money because we’re in that position now.
“I think any of our players that get linked to other clubs, those clubs are going to need to know they’ll need to pay a shed load of money to get anyone out of this football club.” (more…)
Fits the bill?Strong rumours are circulating suggesting Newcastle United have an interest in Auxerre midfielder Alain Traoré.
To add to the transfer rumours I posted yesterday, there are additional rumours that we’re in hot pursuit of Auxerre midfielder Alain Traoré.
The Daily Mail claims that the 22 year-old has 6 goals in 12 games this season and, as far as I can gather, 13 goals in 47 senior matches for his career. He also has 7 goals in 15 games for Burkina Faso, which is where he is from.
I wasn’t sure where Burkina Faso was in Africa, so I looked it up: it’s on the Western sticky-out bit of Northern Africa but is away from the coast and land-locked by six countries (Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and the Ivory Coast). Ouagadougou is the capital.
The Mail suggests that he might struggle to get a work permit though. Apparently this was a problem Manchester United had with the player when they were considering signing him 5 years ago. They wanted him to go to Royal Antwerp, their nursery club, but he was offered a contract by Auxerre and went there instead. (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…)
Luuk de Jong on Toon's Christmas list to Santa?The international break heralds a mini ‘silly season’ as Newcastle United are reported to be interested in no less than 5 new players.
With January fast approaching and no Premier League football for two weeks, it’s inevitable that the names of potential targets will be bandied about.
Our impressive start to the season and the recent spate of injuries to our squad may both, in their own way, raise questions about where we need to strengthen things in January if we’re to continue to push hard this season.
Mike Ashley may also be somewhat re-enthused by the way things have gone and perhaps support Alan Pardew by allowing him to buy a few more players than he would have done if we had not started so well. But who are those players likely to be? The press have a list of potential contenders for us.
The first such player is Modibo Maiga, Sochaux bad-boy and Toon transfer target from the last window. According to some press reports, the deal is all but done and a four and a half year contract awaits the player as soon as trading can commence next year. (more…)
