Toulouse’ Cheikh M’Bengue has said yesterday that he is a target of Newcastle United, and he’s pleased about that.
Cheikh M’Bengue – 22 year old left back
The news that Newcastle are after the player is not too surprising, because it was first revealed in early March that the France U21 International was a target of Newcastle.
M’Bengue has been talking to a French football website Mercato365 yesterday, and made no secret of the fact it was pleasing that a club like Newcastle were after his services.
This boy looks a very good player and is only 22 years old, yet has played 12 times at the France U21 level.
This is what M’Benque said yesterday:
“It’s pleasing. I have heard about it but the club have refused the offer.” “At the moment I’m not too bothered, I have an agent to look after that and he looks after my interests very well.” “We must see what happens.”
“As it stands I’m a Toulouse player and the decision doesn’t come down to me alone,” “I’m contracted until 2014 with Toulouse. If one day I must move it will be with the support of my club.”
“If there are several possibilities in this case, yes I would make the final choice. But beyond that, the deals that can occur, I do not mind too much if he takes care of them.”
Those are good words from the youngster, and it’s fitting that he is loyal to his home town club, since he’s been there for 15 years.
The Toulouse-born player has been with the club since he was just seven years old, and he’s come through the club’s ranks and has so far played 81 times (69 starts) for the Toulouse first team, with two goals.
M’Benque made his debut in September of 2007 against Marseilles, at the age of 19, coming on as a substitute in the 2–1 victory.
Cheikh M’Bengue stands 6′ tall and is of Senegalese descent, and is a very tough tackling player.
Cheikh has already had two long suspensions from the French Football Federation for bad tackles – and that sounds like he’s a similar player to Cheick Tiote doesn’t it?
M’Benque is not a full France International, and only last Monday, the manager of the Senegal national team, Amara Traore, confirmed that M’Bengue would be representing Senegal at senior International level.
That’s also what Sebastien Bassong did shortly after leaving Newcastle – he became a full Senegal International after representing France at the U21 level.
Newcastle have been watching M’Benque improve over the last year or so, and the news from France is that Newcastle’s reputation has been greatly enhanced by the careful and professional way in which they have treated the great Hatem Ben Arfa during his recovery from a double leg fracture.
His agent, Simon Stainrod, has waxed lyrical about the way Newcastle have treated his client so well since he broke his leg back in October.
The interest in M’Benque, and an initial £5M offer that was turned down on April 14th, surely suggests strongly that Enrique is on his way out of Newcastle this summer.
But this lad looks like a much better option than Stephen Warnock or Paul Konchesky.
Comments welcome.
55 comments so far
Brutooon
May 13, 2011 at 9:36 AM
Comment #1look like a non-sense defender hehe somelike like Samba
spitfire_
May 13, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Comment #2At a boy… Buy him and sell Enrique in the same time. Nobody is bigger than the club, Enrique should knows that when he started to put some demands around hes new contract…
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 9:41 AM
Comment #3this lad is a psycho got a 6 match ban once for a tackle wouldnt be many wingers wanting to go past him
roshan MAGPIE
May 13, 2011 at 9:42 AM
Comment #4he is young we can bring in him he is the type of TRANSFER wt ashley wants
Brutooon
May 13, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Comment #5toonfan9 : hahaha true that, valencia or nani would be shitting in their pants when playing against him
Markaccus
May 13, 2011 at 9:44 AM
Comment #6Down side: the ACN will take him away for a while next season, if he has chosen senegal. We’d need another back up LB, otherwise ferguson will be our only left back during that time. He can’t be expected to play all game, every game for that amont of time, he’s still young
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 9:47 AM
Comment #7markaacuss
no it wont he plays for france
alex84
May 13, 2011 at 9:49 AM
Comment #8excuse my ignorance but…whats he like? iv never seen him play?
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 9:50 AM
Comment #9he alex84
think a more tough tackling version of tiote
lewytoon
May 13, 2011 at 9:51 AM
Comment #10is he quick?
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 9:51 AM
Comment #11who plays left back and likes to get forward
terencelim
May 13, 2011 at 9:51 AM
Comment #12@spitfire,
It’s not all to do with wages, Jose Enrique is just like many ordinary man who wants to work for an ambitious organization, with the leadership of a thoughtful owner with vision =)
Last season was one of the toughest period for the club and this lad was one of the reason where we are now. Players like him, Jonas, Carroll and Nolan should never be forgotten for their contribution, although I am not a big fan of any of them.
Rotonda heights
May 13, 2011 at 9:52 AM
Comment #13He’s FRENCH, of Senegalese descent
Now this is much more the standard we should be after. Young, fast and strong. Please no more talk of Konchesky’s, Warnocks etc.
Markaccus
May 13, 2011 at 9:54 AM
Comment #14It says in this article, that the senegal coach says he is going to play for them this year. Come on people, read the article 😀
lewytoon
May 13, 2011 at 9:54 AM
Comment #15so he is quick
Billy1985
May 13, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Comment #16wr has signed for qpr for £1m today. skysports website
Rotonda heights
May 13, 2011 at 9:55 AM
Comment #17brutoon
do you mean No non-sense? we’ve already got some nonsense ones !! perch anyone.
alex84
May 13, 2011 at 9:56 AM
Comment #18toonfan09, cheers mate…i like the sound of that, is he quick? and good at going forward?
Rotonda heights
May 13, 2011 at 9:57 AM
Comment #19last i heard he was definitely commiting to France. a case of which tabloid do you believe i guess
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 9:59 AM
Comment #20its like the Scotland manager saying that carroll was going to play for them
GeordieGerman
May 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Comment #21toonfan09, he was banned for 13 games in 2007.
This sounds good too.
“Meanwhile, United have absolutely no interest in Watford striker Danny Graham – despite reports linking them with the npower Championship’s top scorer.
The Gateshead-born forward is almost certain to leave the Hornets this summer, but St James’ Park will not be his destination.
The club are aiming higher than second-tier stars this summer, something that also means they are unlikely to swoop for Cardiff’s Jay Bothroyd.
The one-cap England striker has been mentioned as a potential target, but is a long way down the pecking order”.
http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2011/05/13/newcastle-united-want-me-says-french-star-cheikh-m-bengue-61634-28686664/2/
Pwnanza
May 13, 2011 at 10:00 AM
Comment #22I think what he is saying is, he is contracted with his current club until 2014, and does not want to upset their board by making the decision to come here himself, although he has said that if everything is good and well he will make the final decision on where to go. But he has said that his agent will take care of any contract offers for him.
To me it is suggesting that he is not going to walk away from his club, but if his agent sees better opportunities elsewhere, i.e. Newcastle, then he would be more than happy to move if everything is set up.
Could be a bit of wishful thinking on my behalf, but he does tick all the boxes for us to move for him. Young, International experience (at U21 level).
The only bad thing is (and this is if Pardew gets a say in any of the transfers) he only has 81 apps from club level, and 69 of them are from starting which is not the 150 apps we are supposedly looking for.
Anyway, i think he would be worth the risk and if Enrique stays, we will have cover at LB instead of relying on Perch or young Fergie do to the job
Markaccus
May 13, 2011 at 10:01 AM
Comment #23Well, if its still in the balance, and we sign him, then I hope he does pick france. Hope pardew thinks of this when trying to get him
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Comment #24my take on the article is that he would like to come here but he isnt going to hand in a transfer request
Brutooon
May 13, 2011 at 10:05 AM
Comment #25Retonda Height – Perch is “versatile”, he can play anywhere but his best position is at the Bench 🙂
Markaccus
May 13, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Comment #26@bru. So perch is versatile, covering all seven seats on the bench! He can sit ANYWHERE on there, he’s that good 😀
mattnufc
May 13, 2011 at 10:15 AM
Comment #27French defenders…FUUUUUUUUU
GeordieGerman
May 13, 2011 at 10:17 AM
Comment #28Brutooon, Markaccus, LOL. 😀
toonfan09
May 13, 2011 at 10:23 AM
Comment #29apparently perch said he could play in goal if we were short he is tht desperate to get a game
Brutooon
May 13, 2011 at 10:28 AM
Comment #30Markaccus : ROFL, Good One! I got nothing to Top that one! HAHA
Markaccus
May 13, 2011 at 10:33 AM
Comment #31We should stop making fun or him though, if he reads this he might get knocked off his perch. (Wa,wa,waaa)
Reacher
May 13, 2011 at 10:49 AM
Comment #32You have to love Ed’s hyperbole, “the great Hatem Ben Arfa”; he’s only played four games for us!
Surprised the title of this article wasn’t, “Cheikh M’Bengue waxing lyrical about the historic Newcastle club.”
spitfire_
May 13, 2011 at 10:50 AM
Comment #33@terencelim
It’s not about wage… I talk about this “I’ll be in negotiations when the team is secured another season in PL”… It’s not that harder to sign new contract and put some clause there if the team is going down, you can be sold on good offer, because he played well this season and if we go down, I’m 100% sure, that NUFC would receive good offer for him.
Klatoon
May 13, 2011 at 11:08 AM
Comment #34This is definitely our new LB,we’ve already put in one bid and that was before Enrique sat down for crunch talks with Pardew. If Jose told AP he wants to leave,as i suspect he did,then we’ll raise our bid to 6mill or table a double bid including Franck Tabanou their Left winger.Graham Carr has watched these 2 alot this season along with Marvin Martin who’s having a terrific season already into double figures for assists from CM. AND all 3 fit our target profile of under 26 with high potential resale value.
alex84
May 13, 2011 at 11:13 AM
Comment #35Klatoon, whats Tabanou like?
The Entertainers
May 13, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Comment #36You have to believe Jose is off on reading this. It’s sad news, best left back I’ve ever seen and will harbour no ill feelings towards the Spaniard.
However like the little I’ve seen and heard of M’Bengue and Tabanou. So either or both would be
craig bell
May 13, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Comment #37I hope if jose does go I hope he goes soon because Id hate for him to leave it until the last minute then not have time to bring in a replacement
The Entertainers
May 13, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Comment #38You have to believe Jose is off on reading this. It’s sad news, best left back I’ve ever seen and will harbour no ill feelings towards the Spaniard.
However like the little I’ve seen and heard of M’Bengue and Tabanou. So either or both would be great additions. Would rather sign or resign Zog though as he’s more direct than what I’ve seen if Tabanou.
Always liked the ideal of bring in a couple of players from the same country. Colo and jonas have been great and it’s a ploy that’s been around for many a year, looking at the Dutch lads at Milan and the Germans at Inter during the 80’s!
So bring in 2 Frenchman in M’Bengue and Zog and another Argentinian in Osvaldo! We’ll ‘be’ playing like the Milan clubs before u know it……… I hope haha!
Dan in france
May 13, 2011 at 11:24 AM
Comment #39perch’s best position is left back! left back in the changing room 😀 ahahahahaha
Brutooon
May 13, 2011 at 11:26 AM
Comment #40Markaccus, Dan in france : LOL !!!!!!! Cant stop laughing mate