The News of the World is reporting today that Newcastle United have made an inquiry about World Player of the Year Ronaldinho.
Since Newcastle have been doing quite a bit of negotiating with Barcelona for players Edmilson, Gudjohnsen and perhaps Deco – it’s not totally surprising Newcastle may have asked about Ronaldinho.
But we need to build our squad up first and seek European qualification – before we look to sign these types of world class players – which we will need to eventually to make Newcastle into a top European side – which is owner Mike Ashley’s goal.
Ronaldinho
English Billionaire and Newcastle owner Mike Ashley was told Ronaldinho would cost around £58M if he wanted to follow up his interest in the Brazilian superstar. If Liverpool value Fernando Torres at £27M and youngster Ryan Babel at around £11M (we think those players are not good value for the money – although they are good players) then we suppose that’s a reasonable price for Ronaldinho.
A Newcastle source told the News of the World:
“During the discussions Ronaldinho’s name came up.”
“Newcastle asked about his availability but were told Barcelona would not consider anything less than £58m.”
“Obviously Mike Ashley is a billionaire but it remains to be seen whether even he would sanction a deal of that magnitude.”
Ashley has been reported to want to bring a global superstar to Newcastle to signal his intent to turn Newcastle into a global football brand and European powerhouse – following his £130m takeover of the club. There’s nothing wrong with that but let’s concentrate on Newcastle’s inadequacies first – like our defense and get a solid season in next year to at least qualify for Europe.
Next summer will be the time to step up our search for world class players – once we can offer them at least European football. We think it’s just too early to be thinking of the Ronaldinhos of the football world. Even if Newcastle paid the Brazilian £200K/week there’s not too much more to offer him at Newcastle right now – certainly not the weather he is used to in sunny Spain. 😀
No – we think Newcastle should continue with Sam Allardyce’s careful acquisition of experienced and productive players who just happen to be available for low prices in the current market. That’s because Sam has already done his homework on who would be available in the summer and we suppose if he was still at Bolton some of the players already signed by Sam would now be at Bolton. Allardyce will bring in at least four defenders to shore up Newcastle’s ailing defense which should be a much tighter outfit next season.
As Newcastle have found out in the past high transfer fees for players does not guarantee the player is good – and this smacks a little of the way Newcastle operated in the past – bring in a superstar when other inadequacies in the team were plain to see. The attempted acquisition a few years ago of Wayne Rooney comes to mind – when our defense at that time was just terrible (and still was last season).
First things first – let’s put a solid squad together first, qualify for Europe and then go after some world class players next summer. Maybe Sam doesn’t need Ashley’s money this summer – so why spend it just because it’s available.
We don’t expect this view to be held by all Newcastle fans – so let’s hear your comments.
60 comments so far
ToTT'er
Jul 15, 2007 at 8:59 AM
Comment #1The fact that you believe this piece of shit of a story is embarrassing and giving it creedance by writing about it is ridiculous.
Benoz
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:02 AM
Comment #2Absolutely bang on – £58m for one player? (who we don’t really need anyway.) Let’s start winning first!
Lee Smith
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:02 AM
Comment #3Signing Rono seems a little silly to me and i cant see it going ahead.Yeah , i suppose it would be exciting if it happened and if mike does,nt mind spendin that kind of money….Like i said..Naaa
Oleg
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:06 AM
Comment #4Emm… I think not !
another player for the front? let’s invest in some D !!!
a world class player is great (most of the time), but why not put the two together?
lets bring a world class defender. I am sure that there is at least one in England, Spain, Italy (and there is some good quality defenders who played in the Copa America too). So why not? mike Ashley Thinks like a billionare, thats good, but 58M ??? we can by a whole army of defenders with that kind of money (right?).
Beastie
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:10 AM
Comment #5dont get me wrong ron a toon player marvellous but for 58 million we could buy a new team or at least 3 or 4 top players with that money!!!
SuperShearer
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:14 AM
Comment #6I can understand Ashley wanting to make an impact on the market but spending that much on one player is a waste of resources. I think we do need a true play maker but Ronaldinho is out of our league at the moment. Would love to see one big name in this summer but someone like Deco, who Barca, appear to be ready to allow to leave, is a much better option for us. Great idea Mike but let the football professionals do the football thinking, you just worry about running the business side of things. The Futures Bright, The Futures Black and White.
Kevin
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:19 AM
Comment #7i Heard newcastle aswell are looking at a striker called Lambert and he is worth around 60mil.. was in the new york times yesturday
Ed Harrison
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:23 AM
Comment #8SuperShearer – i think that may be possible – a very good play-maker like Deco – but not for out of this world money – like Liverpool seem happy to pay out. It’s would be interesting to hear what Sam thinks of some of these outlandish fees.
Sean
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:31 AM
Comment #9You posted a report on 1st June which said that we would still have about £25M once we have signed ALL the players that big sam wanted. With this money you said that we would be looking at players like Tevez, Villa and Torres – With Tevez going to Man U and Torres at liverpool why aren’t we pursuing Villa? In that same report it also said that we would be looking at Jorge Andrade and Fabricio Coloccini, So whats happened to all the speculation? And is there any more transfer updates on edmilson gudjohnsen and deco?
ross
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:31 AM
Comment #10Not being funny here but it was reported in News of The World. I dont believe it for one second.
Sean
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:33 AM
Comment #11Kevin – Who does Lambert play for? Coz i think i would have heard of him if he is worth £60M
steve
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:33 AM
Comment #12…this story is not true. if there was an inquiry it was probably a cheeky one.
Graham
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:35 AM
Comment #13We have as much chance of signing ronaldhinho either now or in the future as i have of becoming the next newcastle manager. Wake up people – with all due respect, i was in Barcelona this time last week and the only place players like that would ever consider going is to a major capital city (and not even London comes close). We may get the chance of p[layers like that in there last couple of years but not in their prime. Hes too good looking to down the Bigg Market anyway!
Ed Harrison
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:45 AM
Comment #14Sean – good points and good questions. Think the first thing is to bring in the additional 4 players Sam wants. It does look like Queudrue and Fanni may be coming – although cannot be certain – but both are full backs and Sam wants two of them plus an additional center-back. He tried for Beye but he wants to stay at Marseilles. As far as Villa goes – don’t think we need him next season – if we can keep Martins. We like Coloccini a lot – but there has been no interest seemingly from Sam. As far as center-back we think that Edmilson will sign on Jan 1st – there’s also reported interest in Brede Hangeland of Copenhagen. Not too sure about Gudjohnsen but there has obviously been – and probably ongoing discussions with Barcelona on this – not sure exactly what the hold up is. Think we also have a chance with Deco – he’s much more realistic chance for us than Ronaldinho – which i think is there to sell NOTW papers today.
As for the 25M – if Sam wanted to buy someone for that amount and Chris Mort thought he would be good buy and we could get him – I’m sure they’d give the go ahead to Sam – not sure who that player would be right now.
Sean
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:46 AM
Comment #15We shouldn’t be looking at ronaldinho, lets be realistic. We should sign: Dimitri Payet (some call him the next Christiano Ronaldo)
Samir Nasri (some call him the next Zinedine Zidane)
Edmilson
Baines
Fanni
Quedrue
Villa ( if not gudjohnsen or Alan Smith)
Ron Manager
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:48 AM
Comment #16If we sell Oba to Arsenal, we are going to need another striker or two as Shola is mediocre at best, Owen is always getting crocked and Viduka is no spring chicken. C’mon Sam, let’s splash the cash, any thoughts as to his top three targets in this department?
Ron
Sean
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:50 AM
Comment #17Ed Harrison – Thanks for that. Have you heard of Payet or Nasri? Nasri was the french leagues young player of the year and Marseilles player of the year last season :D. As for Payet he is just brilliant he is strong, fast, skillful and can play on either wing.
Michael
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:53 AM
Comment #18Why even bother writing an article about some BS story thats been written in the News of the Worlds Gossip section? Its embarrassing. Even justifying it with your time is why were laughed at by other fans. Some people need to get a grip on reality.
michael
Jul 15, 2007 at 9:59 AM
Comment #19It would totally shift the goalposts for big sam. Imagine for one minute we actually did sign Ronny. Newcastle suddenly become a “big” club in the eyes of most footballers in the world. Sam then has his pick, (Unlikely to get snubbed by the likes of habib beye.) He then has to put a squad together in the remaining month of the window capable of challenging for CL (UEFA cup won’t satisfy these sort of players.) That’s not easy. At the very least he would need to be in the top six going into the Jan market, to stand a chance.
His task becomes much more difficult. Then again that’s what we want, and none of the top four are going to roll over and give us their spot are they?
Would we be subjecting him to geordie over expectation, or is it just the sort of ambition required to be winners? Why not go the whole hog whilst Ashley is keen, he’s got much more in terms of resources than Ken Bates at leeds. Go on Mike be a hero. (P.S. lets face it though, it’s just a lie from NOTW just Raul and Deco!)
Ed Harrison
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:04 AM
Comment #20Sean – yes – we’ve heard of both of them – we did run a piece on Payet at the end of May – but nothing specifically on Nasri….yet – and unless Newcastle show some interest.
http://nufcblog.com/newcastle-chase-whiz-kid-dimitri-payet/
Sean
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Comment #21so are we going to put a bid in for payet?
Ed Harrison
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:08 AM
Comment #22ToTT’er – i think if you read what we say we don’t believe the report – although Newcastle may have casually asked about him – as Steve points out above. We don’t think it would be a good move by Newcastle at all. Sam could buy 3 teams for 58M 😀
What we do on this web-site is report on the Newcastle news and say what we think from a Newcastle perspective – that’s all we’ve done above. We also invite comment from the fans on the stories – which I guess is what you’ve also done above.
Tony_D
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:08 AM
Comment #23**IF** Ashley wants to spend that kind of money I don’t think it would be totally unrealistic to sign a play of world class quality.
If we did make an offer and He was then given permission to talk to us it would also send a signal to him that his club would sell him.
What better way for a player to prove how good they are than to play for what is currently a mid table team and turn them into champions.
Ed Harrison
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:11 AM
Comment #24Sean – i have no idea – Sam’s the one who’s getting 3M/year to make those decisions – but there was reported interest from Newcastle in May when we ran the Payet story – but nothing since – should I give Sam a call?
😀
Kevin
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Comment #25all the paper said was reports of newcastle united in talks with a player named Lambert, the club today values him at 60mil, he stays out of the media hype and plays his football, the reason why the club value him so high is because of his skill level aged 23.
it also goes on to say beckam should take a leave out of lamberts book in regards to the media. and im still trying to find out the club he plays for…
Kevin
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Comment #26he was a trainee for real madrid , didnt last long there ??? and played for barca under 18’s.. but no idea who he plays for now???
valle
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:16 AM
Comment #27Well, if we are to make a statement to all the good players and the rest of the football world out there, then i cant think of a better player for the job. He is THE top footballer and would put allot of the transfer money spent right back into the coffers from merchandise alone. However i do agree that what we need first is a top defense, but who’s to say we cant get both?… When all that is said, i think it is wishful thinking, and i cant see it happening in the near future. But here’s for hoping.
Kevin
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:25 AM
Comment #28and is english
Jon c
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:42 AM
Comment #29Never heard so much rubbish as a 60 million pound player nobody has ever heard of called Lambert. If this story ever appeared in the New York Times it would be typical of the Yanks to spell Lampard in that manner.
As for Ronny. No harm at all in asking the question. Intent is there after a couple of weeks ago being told that we have 50 mil to spend this season. It is so obvious that we need RB LB and CB and we can more than live after that. Fanni and Queudrue appear close to signing so why arent we looking at Campbell now that he is off again ? Keeping our money for when Ronny will want to come here.
gordon
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:49 AM
Comment #30I thought a trotter was a pigs hand.If newcastle were inquring about ronaldihno it tells us 1 thing.There are megabucks to be spent instead of free transfers like BOLTON are persuing.
Arron
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:51 AM
Comment #31it would be great if we did sigh ron 4 58 mil i reackon that we eill get back that money within a year because of shirt sales etc
Jon c
Jul 15, 2007 at 10:53 AM
Comment #32And having just searched NYT “Newcastle” havent appeared in their paper since March. “Lambert” hasnt appeared in the sports section but does wonderful abstract art. “Lampard” last appeared in May and “60 million” last appears in the sports section on July 1st for a baseball player.
Please try to keep rumours somewhere near the truth or have some form of authenticity like the News of the World !
Ben
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:06 AM
Comment #33you remember when west ham last year [on deadline day i think] signed mascherano + tevez and everyone asked with there squad from last year and these 2 superstars they all asked if the could challenge for the title….then looked what happened!!!!
albert mooney
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:09 AM
Comment #34mike ashley will want to show his intent buy buying a world class players.if you are talking 60 million just think what you could buy for the positions we need to supply potentially the best forward line in the premiership ie 2 wingers and a creative midfielder can anyone match quaresma,david villa and deco. a couple of big ugly uncomprimising defenders will have us challenging for the title
albert
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Comment #35do you think the arrival of teves will signal the departure of wayne rooney. i cannot see them playing in the same team and it is fair to say that rooney has gone off the boil in recent times. is this the kind of signing mike has planned to shock the football world. sam has a fantastic relationship with ferguson. ryan giggs might also fancy a new challenge in the face of arrival of nanni.
big pea ov the weab
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:36 AM
Comment #36yet gain the news ov the world spouting shit again wen will they learn
Fergie
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:41 AM
Comment #37My sources tell me that last week Alan Oliver was sounded out about a possible transfer to News of the World in what is the worst kept secret in football and I can confirm that he did actually sign for them yesterday, before attending training last night…
Pierre
Jul 15, 2007 at 11:51 AM
Comment #38I know we lacking defensively, we are also lacking in quality, pace and creativity. So if we are going to pay out £58 Million, I would rather try to by the following:-
Pace- Aaron Lennon (Milner and Lennon work well together and switch well).
Quality – Eidur Gudjohnsen
Creativity – Riquelme/Deco (have seen all the discussions on these too)
Defense Quailty Micah Richards, Canavarro and Lahm
Lets think big. We might not be in Europe this year and I am only dreaming. But why not, we could win the League with these.
Craig Futers
Jul 15, 2007 at 12:01 PM
Comment #39I thought with the new manager/new board Newcastle United would have grown out of this sort of stupid thing. That is, if this story has ANY truth in it, which we doubt. Everyone and theyre f*&^%ng granny knows we need a RB, LB and proven CB.
Terry
Jul 15, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Comment #40Ronaldinho – fantastic player but for £58 mil and the wages he would want… actually until we play in europe we have no chance.
If the Deco move doesn’t happen then why has no-one gone after Juan Roman Riquelme, he is not wanted at his club – Boca had him on loan but can’t afford to keep him!! In fact I would rather have him than Deco. The goals he would create and score would be the push we need to be a top team.
Get Juan Roman Riquelme – and then make sure we move for these defenders.