Monday, 27 January 2014

Cabaye to join PSG as Newcastle opt to sell star midfielder for £23m after rebuffing lower bid

Newcastle accepted Paris Saint-Germain’s £23million bid for France midfielder Yohan Cabaye.
PSG initially offered £14m, which was rejected. However, a delegation from the Ligue 1 giants were in the North East with an increased offer that owner Mike Ashley couldn’t turn down.
Cabaye, 28, who went on strike during August when Newcastle turned down a bid from Arsenal, could still face Norwich but wants his future resolved before the transfer window closes on Friday.
Worry: Alan Pardew admits he is not confident of keeping Yohan Cabaye at Newcastle
Worry: Alan Pardew admits he is not confident of keeping Yohan Cabaye at Newcastle

On form: Cabaye has been outstanding for Newcastle in recent weeks
On form: Cabaye has been outstanding for Newcastle in recent weeks
Experience: Pardew was Newcastle boss when they sold Andy Carroll on deadline day three years ago
Experience: Pardew was Newcastle boss when they sold Andy Carroll on deadline day three years ago

Newcastle face Sunderland on Saturday and manager Alan Pardew said: ‘The timing is very unfortunate. It was the same at the start of the season. The  biggest concern for me is losing the player and the second biggest concern is that I have the derby on Saturday.’
Pardew admitted it was difficult to compete with  super-rich PSG, who have spent a world-record £300m on players since 2011.
He added: ‘We know they’re a very wealthy and powerful club. We’re conscious of that, and we’re doing our best to protect Newcastle. I expect him to play at Norwich then I’m sure there will be conversations.
‘I always think that if you’re going to bring players to a club like this and you’re saying to them that you want to break into Champions League football, you will attract better players like that, but you’re more likely to lose them if you’re not in the Champions League.
‘We’re probably one of the few clubs in the Premier League who can attract that calibre of player and find ourselves in that position. That’s probably why we seem to get affected more than others.
‘If we had won two more at Christmas and the end of January, then maybe I could have argued that we have a realistic chance of the Champions League. But I think it’s difficult to look a player in the eye and say we have a realistic chance of Champions League football when the bigger teams have all kept winning.’
new team-mates? Cabaye could be providing the ammunition for Edinson Cavani (left) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic
new team-mates? Cabaye could be providing the ammunition for Edinson Cavani (left) and Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Cabaye will be a huge loss to Pardew having scored five goals from midfield in Newcastle’s last seven Premier League games.
He was a bargain at £4.3m when he moved to Tyneside from Lille in June 2011 after helping them win the French League and Cup double.
He missed only four games and his passing was pivotal as Toon finished sixth that year to earn the club European football, but this season he has added end product to his game with seven goals in all.
Pardew is close to finalising a deal with Borussia Monchengladbach which would see strikers Papiss Cisse and Luuk de Jong switch clubs.
Newcastle will also step up their pursuit of Montpellier’s Remy Cabella, who is seen by Pardew as an ideal replacement for Cabaye.
He added: ‘I’d be foolish if I didn’t have a plan to deal with him going. You can’t lose a player of that quality and not replace him.’

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