Christmas Tree 4858 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 LEON Best is the latest first-team star put up for sale by Newcastle United, who will take £4m for the Republic of Ireland striker. A deal for West Ham United striker Demba Ba is close to completion, but captain Kevin Nolan’s controversial move in the opposite direction is not expected to be the last high-profile departure of the summer. Best was a revelation in the second half of the season, but Newcastle have decided to cash in on him as they push forward with plans for a radical overhaul of their squad. The signing of Demba Ba could be announced today, and the Magpies are also negotiating with Paris-Saint Germain over Turkey forward Mevlüt Erdinç. But The Journal has been told that even if Ba and Erdinç join, Newcastle want another forward to add to their attacking arsenal. That man is definitely not £15m-rated Ajax striker Miralem Sulejmani though, who is out of United’s price range. All of that spells bad news for the current line-up of forwards, with Best the highest-profile victim. The former Nottingham Forest forward has already battled back from the brink as a United player and is unlikely to give up easily on his Newcastle career. The 24-year-old was being offered to clubs on loan back in January before a scoring spree that saw him notch six goals in nine starts to belatedly announce his arrival at St James’ Park. Best is not alone in finding himself apparently surplus to requirements. Nile Ranger has been told to find a new club while club captain Alan Smith has been informed he has no Newcastle future. Joey Barton is available and Nolan, incredibly, has been sold after his 12-goal contribution to keeping the Magpies in the top flight. He put pen to paper on a five-year deal at Upton Park yesterday, claiming Sam Allardyce’s desire to sign him was the deciding factor in his move. “I’m very sad to leave Newcastle but I’m coming to another massive club in my eyes, and hopefully I can be as successful as I was there,” he said. “The be-all and end-all was that this club wanted me and the owners put faith in me and have given me a security of contract. Now it’s my time to repay them and hopefully I will do that.” Meanwhile, Barton said he will consider leaving Newcastle if a Champions League club come in for him. Against United’s wishes the midfielder is maintaining a high profile this summer, having opened a Twitter feed that made national headlines in the wake of Nolan’s departure on Wednesday. Yesterday morning he was at it again, giving a live interview on radio station Talksport in which he reaffirmed his desire to stay at St James’ Park – unless a top-four club could offer him European football. “I love being at the club and I’ve got no ambition to leave,” he said. “If someone came in, for instance, hypothetically and offered me Champions League football, then whether I had signed a five, six, seven-year deal at Newcastle, I’d have to consider it. But that’s not the case at the minute and, as far as I’m concerned, unless someone comes in and can offer me the opportunity to play at the next level, which is obviously the Champions League, then for me it’s a no-brainer. “I won’t be leaving the football club and I’m looking forward to going back pre-season.” Left-back target Neil Taylor was on Tyneside yesterday to tie up the loose ends ahead of his £1m switch to St James’ Park. If things go to plan, the Swansea defender could also be confirmed as a United player today. Read More http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastl.../#ixzz1PWFrYJOT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 99 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Never rated Best, if we can get some £££ for him Id be happy to see him leave. Our forwards could pretty much all be replaced tbh, so long as they are replaced like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithJ 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Beat me to it haha! Best done well however like most of his career, he tends to hit a purple patch with clubs. In the championship he looked nothing short of a Donkey. I remember him hitting more fresh air shots than anything else. It helped confuse the defence of the opposition though! If we get £4mil then I wont complain assuming we get a striker in to replace him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31235 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 So the club reckon that Best is worth the same as Nolan then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Feel sorry for him, seems like a good pro. If Rapey doesn't think he's good enough for the squad, then that's fair enough. Unless of course the owner is selling him. That's quite a few (proposed)outgoings from a really shitty squad : Kuqi Smith Nolan Ranger Best Campbell Ireland Barton All either sold, or being pushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4858 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 So the club reckon that Best is worth the same as Nolan then? 24 V 29 I would guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31235 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Tbf, from that list it's only really Nolan and Barton who could be considered first team material. It's just the wait to see whether any of them will be adequately replaced with better quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howmanheyman 33944 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 If this is true and if the club are party to making it known Best is no longer required, then they've knocked at least a million off his potential price by letting it know he's not wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46166 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 NUFC: "We'll take £4m for him" The World: "We'll take 15 minutes to finish laughing, then let's talk turkey, dickheads." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howmanheyman 33944 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Realistically, who would buy him? By and large, 2nd div clubs don't pay big transfer fees these days, there's no way they'll get even half of their asking price. If Best stuck around and managed to get a few goals then a struggling side in the PL may sign him in january for over £2M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christmas Tree 4858 Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Realistically, who would buy him? By and large, 2nd div clubs don't pay big transfer fees these days, there's no way they'll get even half of their asking price. If Best stuck around and managed to get a few goals then a struggling side in the PL may sign him in january for over £2M. Just had another look at his career stats. Quite shocking really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Tbf, from that list it's only really Nolan and Barton who could be considered first team material. It's just the wait to see whether any of them will be adequately replaced with better quality. Yeah, that's not really the problem, it's the action of replacing that many outgoings. Routledge wasn't included there either and he'd have been useful a few times last season when our threadbare squad suffered injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS 4411 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Realistically, who would buy him? I'd try the promoted teams or maybe Wigan as a make-weight for N'Zogbia. No loss subject to replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Below is those players minutes played in the league this season. I take the point about them not being first teamers, but I think our squad was short about 3players last season. I really don't see the club bringing in 9 or so for next year. Kuqi - 26(!) - Carroll's replacement Smith - 580 missed half the season Nolan - 2651 Ranger - 588 Best - 742 Campbell - 408 Ireland - 51 Barton - 2878 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lake Bells tits 1 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Another player which arouses fuck all feelings for me on his way out. Cant say Im bothered, I dont really rate him at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 14085 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Realistically, who would buy him? I'd try the promoted teams or maybe Wigan as a make-weight for N'Zogbia. No loss subject to replacement. Good idea to use him as a pot sweetener like. I think the hatrick against West Ham and the (should-have been) two goals past Arsenal would always be his NUFC highlights. Seems a decent enough pro though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 To be honest id rather keep him and get rid of Lovenkrands and Ranger. Best and Shola would be decent backups imo. That said...if we get 3-4mil for him, which we could do then i'd be happy. The fact this has come out could mean the club are close and are very confident of replacements. Turkish mate of mine reckons the Erdinc deal could be done over the weekend and that he is a very good player and could come good in the PL. Ba and N.Taylor to be confirmed either today or over the weekend too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22189 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 agreed - lovenkrands and ranger should go first. best did enough last season to earn another year as a back up striker. that's probably why we're touting him; because we might get a few quid for him. i woudn't be that arsed if he's sold though as long as he's replaced wisely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 14085 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 The fact this has come out could mean the club are close and are very confident of replacements. Confident of making a profit more like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 The fact this has come out could mean the club are close and are very confident of replacements. Confident of making a profit more like. Well aye theres that like. Signed for what 2mil? 6 goals in th PL and generally looking busy, i think we could get 3-4 mil from someone like Birmingham which i think have shown in interest. I honestly see this as the club genuinly wantin to better our options within the squad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OTF 7575 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 4M!! article lost any credibility at that point. I don't think anyone will be too upset if he goes. Seemed to have defied his own ability in scoring those goals this season. Could do without seeing him flagged over and over for being offside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevieRoss 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I think we're all on the same page. Basically a donkey and a poor signing by Hughton. Good time to offer him around while his goal to game ratio from last season (a flash in the pan probably) is still fresh in people's minds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty 4 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Like others have said, I'd rather it was Lovenkrands pissing off, the little fanny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrelevant Nick KP 0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Realistically, who would buy him? By and large, 2nd div clubs don't pay big transfer fees these days, there's no way they'll get even half of their asking price. If Best stuck around and managed to get a few goals then a struggling side in the PL may sign him in january for over £2M. Just had another look at his career stats. Quite shocking really Is there a specific set of stats that make up all of his career stats? If you are going to quote stats, actually show us which ones you mean, so that we can judge for ourselves how revealing those stats are. If you have counted goals, but ignored assists, the stats are pretty worthless, in my view. or if you have counted 10-minute sub appearances, as equal to full matches, then the stats are also pretty ridiculous. Since you don't explain which stats you are referring to, your posting is quite shocking really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 14085 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I don't need stats to know Leon Best is an average footballer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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