Vacancy: apply withinNewcastle United are still in the hunt for a striker 6 months after the sale of Andy Carroll. And now they need a left-back too. So just why is it taking so long to recruit new players?
What, you might ask, is the problem? We’ve had six months to replace Andy Carroll and still haven’t, unless you happen to believe that Demba Ba’s that man. And, although Enrique’s actual departure is relatively recent, we’ve pretty much known he’d go for a few months now (the clue was in his refusal to sign a contract), yet we haven’t got a replacement for him either.
Let’s allow some leeway with Enrique. He has only just been sold and we must surely know by now that players don’t come in unless Ashley’s 100% sure he’s getting the dosh for the outgoing player. It might not be a proactive way to run a football club but we seem to be stuck with it.
Some might argue that selling Carroll so late in the January transfer window left us no time to bring in a replacement, which is true. And let’s even be generous and say that £35m was too good to refuse and that it was actually worth limping through the second half of last season without a first choice striker. Surely, though, in the months after the Carroll sale we should have had plenty of striker targets lined up, ready to make bids for them as soon as the transfer window opened.
Deal down but not out?Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has not yet given up on the prospect of signing Mevlüt Erdinç despite the player’s apparent preference to stay at Paris Saint-Germain.
There may be some downtime in the transfer market while Newcastle tour the US, but speculation that the club haven’t yet given up their hopes of signing Mevlüt Erdinç continues. According to the press, anyway.
A little while back, Erdinç stated that his preference is to stay at Paris Saint-Germain after being given assurances that he won’t be completely sidelined but the incoming transfers of players like Kevin Gameiro and – potentially – Mauro Zarate.
In fact, Erdinç played for PSG on Wednesday in their pre-season match against Brighton, although he was used to plug a gap on the right wing after Guillaume Hoarau and Kevin Gameiro were give the two front positions. It’s possible that things like that might force Erdinç to reconsider a move to Newcastle where he would most likely be the first choice striker. (more…)
Eff off says Ranger to BlackpoolNewcastle United hard man Nile Ranger fails to agree personal terms with Blackpool, Ameobi struggles with contract renewal and Routledge looks most likely to be heading for Leicester City.
It seems my article from yesterday about Nile Ranger‘s move to Blackpool was a bit premature. The £1.5m that Blackpool offered us was accepted by the club but then Ranger failed to agree personal terms with Blackpool.
A few options still remain though. Ranger could find himself loaned to Blackpool, which was the preference of some of the readers who commented on yesterday’s article anyway, or he could find himself going to Reading in some sort of part-exchange deal for Shane Long, who we’re allegedly very interested in.
Leon Best was originally thought to be the striker who would be offered as part of that deal, so I guess it could be either of them or both of them.
Assuming we are actually after Shane Long that is – it’s still just speculation. Shane Long is said to be valued at £10m, although I think that’s a bit high even considering his 1 in 2 strike rate for last season. (more…)
Are we interested?Newcastle United continue pursuing Mevlüt Erdinç with a £6.94m bid and the Mackems are allegedly about the ‘pip’ us to Shane Long.
According to the French press, our current bid for Mevlüt Erdinç stands at €7.75m (£6.94m) but it is reported that Rennes has now also entered the race to sign the French-born Turkish striker. Rennes have been on the lookout for a striker since Moussa Sow left for Lille last year.
The French press says that the €11m PSG are asking for Erdinç is likely to price Rennes out of things, but they might be able to match the €7.75m we’ve asked and provide Erdinç with an option to remain in Ligue 1.
Galatasaray and Lille are also said to be interested in the player although, from what I can gather, those clubs are less likely destinations for Erdinç.
Given how much more careful the French press seems to be than ours about separating conjecture from fact, I’m inclined to believe that we have indeed bid £6.94m for the player and are most certainly in hot pursuit of him. (more…)
Who are we after?A summary of the current transfer targets at Newcastle United, not a single one of which has actually been confirmed by the club!
As another week gets underway, we can no doubt expect a load more transfer speculation relating to our club because it is after all silly season.
So I thought I’d kick off by doing a brief summary of where we supposedly stand with some of the transfer targets rumoured to date.
First of all, let’s be clear about one thing: the club have not confirmed a single transfer in and have only confirmed the exit of Sol Campbell and Shefki Kuqi, so that is our official transfer status at the moment.
Mehdi Abeid
By all accounts this is actually a done deal and the player himself has confirmed that he has agreed a deal with Newcastle after being welcomed and encouraged by Tiote and Ben Arfa. The 18 year old attacking midfielder has played most of his football for the Lens B team, so I’m guessing he’s down as one for the future. (more…)
