Mike Ashley: Playing a dangerous game at NUFC?With the new season just a few short hours from kick off, Toon fans everywhere take stock of the events of the past few months and are no doubt wondering what kind of start we’ll have given the merciless squad upheaval.
Since the transfer window opened Geordies have sat around with baited breath hoping for some good news to pop up on the Sky Sports News Ticker. Needless to say, it’s been a rollercoaster ride. [Neil] Taylor, Gervinho, Gameiro, Cabaye, Erdinc, Nolan, Marveaux, Ba, Barton, Routledge, Enrique, Crouch, Defoe, Long, Beckford, Lovenkrands, Bendtner, Benayoun – and that’s just the players we’ve bought, sold, are supposed to be selling or been linked with that I can think of off the top of my head!
Toon fans are a rugged lot and we’ve put up with enough of the proverbial for us to be able to pick apart a rumour from a genuine story and gladly celebrate when we are linked to a top player; at least somebody out there thinks we can sign Messi for an estimated £8m.
Still, taken into account our outgoing transfers (Nolan, Enrique, Routledge) and comparing them to our incoming (Cabaye, Marveaux, Abeid, Ba, Obertan) – I’d usually say we’ve done pretty well! (more…)
Cabaye? Whey eye!Welcome to my small series of ‘blogs looking at Newcastle United’s new signings in the latest transfer window. First cab off the rank will be Yohan Cabaye.
Cabaye, who’s recent signing was broken on Joey Barton’s Twitta, and this ‘blog, was signed from Lille OSC for £4.3 million, which must be something of a bargain for someone who is thought to be something more like £8-10 million. Lille, a very good and stylish attacking side, won the double of France’s Ligue Un Championship and Coupe de France last season with a host of very talented players such as Gervinho, Moussa Sow, Eden Hazard and not least, Cabaye himself.
He comes from a family of footballers. His father Didier played for French side Lens until his professional career was ended by a serious injury remiscent of Hatem Ben Arfa’s when he sustained a double leg fracture. His younger brother Geoffrey plays in the French lower leagues with Iris Club de Croix. (more…)
Fancied by JolMartin Jol is allegedly interested in Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan and Kevin Gameiro rules out any chance of comin to Tyneside.
I think we’d all pretty much accepted that Lorient’s Kevin Gameiro wasn’t coming to Newcastle and the player himself has now confirmed that, saying:
“I’ll think about my future in the coming days.
“It will be Paris or Valencia. The two clubs are very good.
“I will calmly make my decision over the next days.
“I love both clubs. I have always been attracted to Spain.
“We will see what will happen. An agreement has yet to be made with Lorient.”
So we can scratch that one off the list.
There is still the question of Lille’s Gervinho of course and whilst he’s confirmed he wants to play in the English Premier League, he’s also said that he wants to prove himself in a ‘large European club’. That could be taken to mean a club playing European football next season, which would make Manchester City and Arsenal the favourites of his alleged English suitors.
Rumour has it that Alan Pardew has cut his holiday short to officially welcome Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle United. That could happen today and whispers of press conferences have reached my delicate (and rather fetching) ears, although such rumours may of course be total bunk. (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…)
£10m bid acceptedNewcastle United’s team could take on a distinctly French feel if the club’s transfer plans work out as they want.
Apparently Lorient have accepted Newcastle’s £10m offer for Kevin Gameiro and it’s now up to the player to decide if Newcastle can trump his first choice of Valencia.
A couple of things are definitely in our favour.
First of all, Mike Ashley’s policy of paying entire transfer fees in one go is said to have been one of the main reasons why Lorient accepted the offer. Valencia on the other hand would be paying in instalments, as per Spanish football’s standard operating procedure.
Second, in terms of persuading the player himself to come to Newcastle, it certainly won’t hurt that we have Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa in our squad to help their fellow countryman feel at home, at least linguistically.
On paper the triple-pronged French offensive of Cabaye and Ben Arfa in midfield and Gameiro up front looks exciting and hopefully the new Frenchies will be able to adapt to Premier League football fairly quickly. (more…)
