We were linked with Chelsea midfielder Florent Malouda a few days ago, and we wonder if things are starting to open up for Newcastle to really bring him to Tyneside.
Florent Malouda – now available to move?
One of the conditions that Malouda would be made available was that Brazilian star Robinho would be signed by The Blues from Real Madrid.
And there is news today that Robinho is indeed set to complete a move from Real Madrid to Chelsea, in a deal worth £28.4M, that is expected to be completed within the next 24 hours, according to reports.
Official confirmation of the signing could be made later today, with chief executive Peter Kenyon saying today:
“We are ever confident that it will get done, but we have always said it will go to the wire.”
“There were two players Luiz Felipe Scolari identified. One was Deco and one was Robinho. And we have already seen the impact Deco has made on the Premier League.”
“I think the squad is strong and capable of competing in all competitions without Robinho – but with him, it is an added dimension.”
That’s an awful lot of money for just one player, but you cannot accuse Chelsea or Roman Abramovich of not dishing out the big money, when they are after a player they really want.
Apparently the deal is further complicated because Real Madrid are trying to sign David Villa, the Valencia striker, as a replacement for the Brazilian forward.
But news that Real Madrid last night offered £35M for Villa, so things could be moving soon, and at the tail end of the moves, we expect Chelsea to allow Malouda to move on.
So we suppose if Newcastle are really interested in Malouda, now would be a good time to put in a decent bid.
Our feeling is that while he’s a good player we think for £12M we could quite possibly bring in a couple of lesser known players, but just as good as Malouda.
We may be wrong about that, and time is certainly running our now, but certainly the four players we do have are all first class signings. We just haven’t made enough of them, that’s the only problem.
The 28 year old Frenchman is a good player and very experienced, having represented France 42 times and played for Châteauroux, Guingamp and Lyon, before moving to Chelsea in 2007 for around £15M.
Comments welcome.
Here is Ed’s NOTW review of the win against Coventry City on Tuesday evening.
266 comments so far
ToonKing
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Comment #41Appiah is done Danish_Magpie, why do you think he’s available for free ??? he has no knees.
SuperShearer
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Comment #42He’s the last thing we need right now. Even with Duff injured we have to if not three left midfielders in Zog, Jonas, and Milner so why splash the cash on Malouda? We need a striker, LB, and AM with maybe a DM if there is a good one available otherwise that can wait. Oh and the small matter of retaining our current crop of players before worrying about players of Malouda’s age an underachiever in the Premiership.
Spyro
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Comment #43tom toon what are you on about? Sinclair is only 19, which is why i said one for the future
ice dog
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:56 PM
Comment #44luke i agree fully with treatment of players ect,but pray harder try russian mai as roman set up trust fund 300mill in case he pulls out in furture, thats what there press say
Spyro
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Comment #45chelsea do have a youth set up aswell you know, so i doubt he is currently competing with Cole, Malouda etc
SteveM
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Comment #46It’s one of the principles of any negotiation to hang on until last minute. If the sellers valuation does not meet the buyers valuation then the final clincher is the walk away. It’s been very slow business in the Transfer Market this summer but with the credit crunch some clubs will need to sell – and with the clock ticking I would expect to see a lot of last minute deals throughout the premiership. I expect Newcastle are keeping their cards very close to their chest and looking at multiple targets – and I expect them to make a number of take it or leave it offers soon. Offers that do not give the selling club much time to see if they can bid up interest in the player form another club. I’m sure it would be totally faninating to see this cgame of poker being played out but at least I know that its suicidal to show your hand before the tie is right – FFS had other ideas of course – blather on to the media day and night and sign blank cheques away to bring in WOW “luque” signings.
Geordio Cubano
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Comment #47Can’t imagine Malouda is our real Chelski target, it doesn’t add up, though I wouldn’t be surprised if we ARE negotiating with Chelsea for someone else and the press has gotten the wrong end of the stick, as they often do, and attributed our interest to Malouda… let me consult my ITK crystal ball:
…oooh, very good…
Joe Cole! Come on doon son…
Ian
Aug 28, 2008 at 5:59 PM
Comment #48agree pennant would be best but he already said he wasnt coming here.
dick
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Comment #49if we were going for chelsea reject would have got SWP, cheaper and better player, dont really think we are intrested in malouda
Luke
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Comment #50Crikey moses. Poor old (young) TomTit can’t take a joke. I say part exchange Smith for Berbatov and a few million.
Chelsea loaned out Johnson at a time when they were playing Geremi, Bouhlarouz (sp?) and Ferreira in his position. They need some equity management je crois.
I’m off for a parisien ruby murray. Bon ap!
Lew Davies
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Comment #51Oh yes! this would just be the icing on the cake after this week.
Malouda is a typical Toon signing under Fat Freddy Shitturd.
PLEASE PLEASE dont go down the chelski reject route AGAIN.
I see Duff is out till end sept. For gods sake he only got a bang on the knee. What a pussy!
Malouda will be no better, attitude wise.
If this is the WOW signing, then I give up.
Tom_Toon
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:01 PM
Comment #52Aye, fair dues Syro, i still definitely think they’d sell him even for fairly cheap.
Luke
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Comment #53says it all really doesn’t it icedog… might as well be called ‘lack of trust fund’ with that kind of organisation.
Safferman
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Comment #54I dont think we should touch another chelsea player again: Babayaro, Duff anyone? Paker had his days, but didnt miss him when he jumped ship either
Ganiyu
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Comment #55Sign 6 more players so dat i can boast here in nigeria
Lew Davies
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:05 PM
Comment #56Ganiyu – forget it. this is the new toon.
ELFER
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Comment #57absolutely no go! He has been so bad in the 2006 world cup (lost almost every ball) and chelski didn’t play him! So no no no, we have far better wingers in duff and zoggy on the left!
Danish_Magpie
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Comment #58Tom_Toon,
Yeah he is. I read an interview with his agent who said that he wanted to go back to Juve. If they don’t move for him though, we should bid at the last minute. Sign him up for a year at least, he could be quality.
Mick G
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:13 PM
Comment #59Get rid of Milner because he asked for a pay rise and then get someone in who is nowhere near as good(and lets face it Milner is only average) on a lot bigger wages ,thank god it is never going to happen
Beatski
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:14 PM
Comment #60I hope not. Overpriced and Overrated
as said we could get 2 players of the same standard for that, and we dont need a left winger anyway
scott9
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Comment #61i hope we are actaully in for fellini cause it covers midfiled and defense perfect signing plus he seems to hav the qaulity i aparentely henrik larson is considering offers from 3 premiership clubs wonder if were one of them would be a gud signing for a season in my opinion just iuntil we get someone else in in january or something i
ice dog
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Comment #62luke.why not set up KK trust fund i think i could just about give 2quid might just give MA one in eye,in KK i trust,ime sure the toon would give aquid
NUFCFAN
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:19 PM
Comment #63when you compare Malouda to Jonas it pretty much says it all.
1, just comparing the two together, i cant think of anything that Malouda beats him ability at – apart from delivery maybe
2, the scouting team have the ability to find better
3, can find a better alternative for cheaper than 12 mill.
looking at the debate with Spyro and Tom Toon, i dont think that Sinclair would be a bad option, bursts of pace a la Dyer/Walcott, and mould him into the player that we would want (plus might replace the young englishman that milner is)
ToonEskimo
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Comment #64Just booted up the computer for the umpteenth time….same old crap….out of boredom I looked up a word in the dictionary:
spec-u-lation : Reasoning based on inconclusive evidence; conjecture or supposition.
I rest my case.
steve
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Comment #65no thanks – Maloudas not suited to the prem by his own admission and all the chelsea fans I know think he’s a waste of space who’ll they’ll happily pass on to us (espec for 12 million!!)
Graham
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:22 PM
Comment #66..
Spyro
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Comment #67i too rate Scott sinclair very highly and i saw him live at palace last season believe it or not. I just personally dont feel Chelsea would sell him, would be delighted to get him though.
Ameritoon
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Comment #68No thank you to Malouda. Joe Cole please!
(a boy can dream!)
ToonRich
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Comment #69Sorry, but some of you lot are begining to bicker like old women!!
I’ve never read or heard Malouda quoting he’s too “lightweight” for the EPL, but im MY OWN OPINION how the hell can you guys say he is when he’s no different to half our current players going by build, Milner is all skin and bones! Zog aint the big, and neither is Enrique anymore. My point being I dont think he’d be any worst for us than Milner has been. He must have done something right to become a french international?
By the way, I’m not that bothered if we do/dont sign him 🙂 just making convo!!
Geordio Cubano
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Comment #70Joe Cole… Joe Cole… Joe Cole…!
pete stone
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Comment #71no thanks, hes shit
sirjasontoon
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:31 PM
Comment #72I got some 2 for 1 dominoes mate : )
I knew we would be back speculating again after the milner episode and it does my head in.
Tom the chances of Keegan even knowing about your championship manager stars are very slim and since I have been on here I have not heard one of the players you have mentioned i.e unknown be signed by the Toon so why bother?
Desmond - DesmondBlog.com
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Comment #73ah crap. SWP joins Man City. Malouda is crap.
I prefer Newcastle to go and get some nice youngsters like Miguel Veloso and Joao Moutinho than spending big bucks on one aging winger who cant even score over 5 goals a season in the best club.
$12m = $10 for Veloso and $2 to get a good leftback like Warnock or Wome.
MAG PIE
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Comment #74Malouda – expensive, high wages, wrong position for our needs, not good. No thank you.
Realistic targets – Warnock, Bullard, Ashton.
Ganiyu
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Comment #75English boys of now adays dont know how 2 kick a ball but are very good on playstation3
Nick C
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Comment #76Off topic, but I was away on business on Tuesday and have not seen the Cov goals. Does anyone know where i could find them?
raamsoon
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Comment #77i think keegan can decide to do in the transfer market with the players which one he love to pick up. but there are a lot of factors to be considered–recruite team, money and Mike Ashley. of course, we try best to give the information about great players but i sick of it. there is crab. the news, papers, gossip in transfer market. we should wait and see what happen at United.
Desmond - DesmondBlog.com
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:39 PM
Comment #78From Chelsea = Babayaro, Duff, Geremi
From Real Madrid = Owen
From Inter = Martins , Emre (but he’s gone now)
anyone here realize we took in lots of rejected players!? No more!
Nick C
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Comment #79Alreet Desmond, just checked out ya blog. You sound like an awfully smart cookie! What is your Toon link?
iain
Aug 28, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Comment #80cant see the need for a first team older lw tbh.
we have the zog we need a lb more, unless keegan has some mad idea about playing malouda at lb, also if we get the malouda that performed for lyon we would be getting a wc player, but its still a gamble to see if he can regain that form.