There is a report coming out of Sky Sports that Newcastle may be interested in Ghana central defensive midfielder Anthony Annan.
Anthony Annan – Newcastle interested?
The Accra born player will turn 24 next Wednesday so he certainly is the right age, and he currently plays at Rosenborg BK in Norway, where he’s been since 2008. Rosenborg paid £1.2M for the player from his former Norwegian club Start.
A local Newcastle blog, created by one of our former readers, Doocey (a smashing lad by the way), has reported that Sky News is indeed saying Newcastle are interested in the player.
Annan has played over 40 times for Rosenborg, and had a trial at Blackburn Rovers in August of 2008, under then manager Paul Ince, who was said to be impressed by the player – but Annan was not signed by the Lancashire club.
Annan’s claim to fame is that he deputized for injured Essian in this year’s World Cup and looked very impressive, to say the least. The fact that Michael Essien was hardly missed by Ghana, who oh so nearly became the first African country to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, says a lot for this young player.
He is nicknamed Pablo Aimar, in comparison to the Argentine national midfield superstar, who we thought Newcastle had signed back in the summer of 2008 – but we were wrong – again. 😀
Annan is quite small at 5’7″, but has tremendous physical power, and we’re sure some of the African players on display in South Africa, especially those from Ghana, will be attracting interest from English clubs, because they played so very well in South Africa.
Anthony has played 41 times for Ghana with one goal.
We have no idea if this report is true, but the report suggests Newcastle have already bid around £5M for the player, which seems about right, but there’s no doubt the lad is an excellent player and we hope there is some truth in this report.
Comments welcome.
Written from Plymouth, England.
NUFC News 24/7 
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25 comments so far
TheMags
Jul 16, 2010 at 9:57 AM
Comment #1Whyy did Blackburn say noo???
G
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:05 AM
Comment #2Because Paul Ince turned out to be a pap manager?
ollynufc180
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:11 AM
Comment #3sign him up!
I would love an enegetic and strong ghanain like annan ……….jut what we need and he’d be a welcome addition
think he’s a defensive midfielder and thats what we need! 🙂
howay man
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:15 AM
Comment #4de guzman for free!
or annan for 5 million.
its actually a difficuilt choice but i think our midfeild is the strongest part of our team i just think if we are gunna spend then we should buy a striker.
howay man
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:18 AM
Comment #5arsenal wanted de guzman for 12 million a year or 2 ago! we have the oppurtunity to get him for nout!
Tom
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Comment #6He would be a fantastic signing, but I don’t think we will pull it off tbh.
howay man
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:30 AM
Comment #7Next season is gunna be a piece of p!ss
liverool are gunna lose their best plaers.
fulham have lost their manager
stoke will get found out
birmingham 2nd season syndrome
wolves 2nd season syndrome
blackburn consistently nearly relegated
bolton consistently nearly relegated
wigan consistently nearly relegated
sunderland consistently nearly relegated
west ham god knows what will happen with them
everton getting weaker and weaker
west brom will be happy with 2nd bottom
blackpool will finish on no-more than 10 points
EASY
Geordie-Gerrard7
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:37 AM
Comment #8Ed if your in devon, you should go to north Devon mate, on the coast, it’s lovely!! Lovely beaches, especially croyde.
Newutd
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:48 AM
Comment #9The Annan rumor is bullshit. First of all, Hughton said today/yesterday that we were to sign one or two players. A classy striker, and a backup for Enrique. Second of all, this so called rumor is from a random Norwegian dude who posted this on the rumor site on skysports.com, and then a journalist jumped at it and made a deal out of it. There is no rumor like that in Norwegian media.
Btw: Here is the guy who made it all up:
http://www.whosdatedwho.com/celebrity/photos/tom-roger-storvik.htm (He is no celebrity…)
And on Annan. He is a really good player, BUT. He has a “difficult” personality and he tends to turn to unsporting behavior on the pitch (biting(!), hitting etc.) He would totally ruin the team harmony. A big no, unfortunately, couse he is one of the best out there in his position.
Tjodalf
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:58 AM
Comment #10I’m from Norway, just 2 ours away from Rosenborgs stadium, and have been to see them a few times. Annan is no Aimar, but he is more like Alan Smith-type. First and foremost he destroys the oppositions attacks, but lately under the new Rosenborg-manager, he has startet to come forward as an attacking player.
He would be the perfect competition to Alan Smith, but of course a much more complete DM than Smith.
We should buy him, but we also should think about bringing Skjelbred along as they are two of Rosenborgs best players and have lots of Champions League experience.
Also the defender: Vadim Demidov is young and a great talent.
Pardon my french, as I’m from Norway, and in Norway we speak and write in Norwegian, and use letters like; Æ Ø Å. 🙂
Newutd
Jul 16, 2010 at 11:03 AM
Comment #11Haha, Tdojalf. A classic Rosenborg supporter thinking every talented player in their club is good enough for the prem:)
Annan would be bad for the team morally and harmony wise.
Skjelbred could be a good signing, and he’s a Newcastle fan, but we don’t need another midfielder.
We also don’t need a mediocre centerback like Vadim.
Doha Mag
Jul 16, 2010 at 11:19 AM
Comment #12Not sure why we would need another midfield player unless we are about to offload some one; maybe Alan Smith?
Need to spend some money on a PL class striker to assist Carrol up front…..
John
Jul 16, 2010 at 12:22 PM
Comment #13What happen to signing de guzman on a free, are they not similiar players? with a couple of million in the difference, concerns me were going after CM and not seeing where we need cover thought Chris Eagles, and Boyd wud ave done a good job for us.
Newutd
Jul 16, 2010 at 12:36 PM
Comment #14“are they not similiar players? ”
Not at all.
Annan is a defensive midfielder (not an attacking fibre in his body at all)
De Guzman is more of an attaking-minded player.
henok ethiopian toon
Jul 16, 2010 at 2:25 PM
Comment #15well Annan is a good player ,but he is well known for his selfishness..in general next year is going to be hell of a difficult season…all the teams i see in the epl are better and more organized than us ..as in our tactics are a little shaky compering it to epl standard clubs….nufc lost there character..during Robson’s time…i cant wait to see them play on Saturday
geordie_al
Jul 16, 2010 at 4:29 PM
Comment #16i think he would be a decent signing for us he played really well from what i saw in the world cup, i dont think hes essential as we need a midfield player who can open up teams next season thats got to top priority along with a proven striker
Doocey
Jul 16, 2010 at 7:07 PM
Comment #17Cheers for the compliments Ed!
I’m not a former reader, I still read this ‘blog regularly! 🙂
Seems as if this is indeed just a rumour, and nothing more. However, makes for interesting reading all the same.
Keep up the good work, and enjoy your holidays 🙂
Sewelly
Jul 16, 2010 at 7:15 PM
Comment #18Midfield our strongest area? Seriously, what the f**k are you lot on?
StuW
Jul 16, 2010 at 7:38 PM
Comment #19This guy is a good option. Far better as a midfield hardman than Smith, and wouldn’t cost much, playing in Norway.
baro
Jul 16, 2010 at 7:48 PM
Comment #20Anthony Annan would be awesome wether there is any truth to the reports.
Newutd
Jul 16, 2010 at 9:04 PM
Comment #21So you’d rather have a central midfielder than a striker, Sewelly?
Sewelly
Jul 16, 2010 at 10:02 PM
Comment #22I’d seriously hope we’re looking to assess both. The midfield is laborious, slow, lacking in energy, drive and creativity. The likes of Smith and Nolan are going to get destroyed by real athletes in the Premier League.
The midfield was what took us down last time and it will do it again if it’s not replaced. Honestly can you imagine if Smith and Nolan (or either of them) start against at Old Trafford on the opening day? It’s going to be grim, that’s for sure.
I hope for a striker too, but the midfield is of the utmost importance. Without competent midfielders you will be cannon fodder in the Premiership – a star striker would be a bonus.
Neun78
Jul 16, 2010 at 11:13 PM
Comment #23i just say one name yannis tafer he gonna get a very good player in a few years, i have seen him many times and that boy is gonna be a 20goalscorer man
daffy
Jul 17, 2010 at 12:44 PM
Comment #24Re howay man
Newcastle – relagated last time + more than likely this time round.
Brewcastle
Jul 20, 2010 at 1:35 PM
Comment #25@Tjodalf: Is it to try to make Annan and Skjelbred bigger than they are when you say “….they are two of Rosenborgs best players and have lots of Champions League experience”.
– Rosenborg haven’t played that much Champions League the last years… And Skjelbreds main experience is a killer-attack from Stoltidis that gave a broken leg.
But I don’t say they’re not good enough. But from those two, Skjelbred is definitly the most interesting for NUFC. His playing style and behaviour fits Toon better than Annan, and is growing with attacking football (Just look the difference when RBK changed from coach Hamrén to Eggen). As one said here before: Annan has a difficult behaviour and attitude. He lose his head for nothing sometimes… So in PL I guess he will be a tick-tack-bomb….