The Chronicle is reporting tonight that Newcastle have received six “firm offers” for Moussa Sissoko so far this summer.
It seems that three Premier League clubs plus three continental clubs have put in offers for the player who was a star of the Euro 2016 tournament in France in the summer.
Moussa Sissoko – in French colors in the summer
But none of the offers have been close to the £35M fee Newcastle seem determined to get for the 6ft 2ins powerful midfielder.
However, Newcastle do expect further bids to come in before the transfer window slams shot on Wednesday night at 11:00 pm and it has to be a decent bet that Moussa will not be a Newcastle player on September 1st.
But you never know.
The midfielder is still reported to be desperate to leave the club and unfortunately it seems Newcastle are willing to lower their price to £25M to get a deal.
That’s a pity – we should stand firm and if we don’t get a big enough bid then Moussa will just have to hunker down and stay at the club where he still has three years left on his contract.
But that view may not be shared by other Newcastle fans, most of whom just want the guy to leave after his embarrassing comments about wanting to leave the club for the last two years.
There will not be any loan move for Moussa.
The Chronicle is reporting that Italian clubs Inter Milan and Juventus plus Spanish giants Real Madrid have all put in bids for the player – that’s in spite of the Madrid club denying any interest in the midfielder.
Crystal Palace, Everton and West Brom are three Premier League clubs who have submitted formal bids.
So none of the big Premier League clubs have bid for Sissoko and those three are not Champions League clubs and nowhere near qualifying either.
Moussa would prefer to stay in England, or at least that’s one of the things he has said this summer.
West Brom are reported to be confident they can offer Moussa good acceptable terms – so it would certainly be interesting if Moussa ends up at either Crystal Palace or West Brom.
Both clubs are much smaller clubs than Newcastle United and certainly don’t have the rich history of the Magpies and they don’t have world-class managers in charge either.
Rafa has won the Champions League once and been beaten finalists once – and he’s won the Europa League twice.
But both clubs are still in the Premier League.
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with the Sissoko saga before next Thursday, when the transfer window will have closed.
Thank goodness.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
60 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:11 AM
Comment #41Veltman,
So when a sackrafa.com campaign starts we know exactly who started it.
lochinvar
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:19 AM
Comment #42Newcastle United are close to signing Ipswich Town striker Daryl Murphy, 33, in a £5m deal. (TWTD)
Anymore info on this item ?
Jail for Ashley
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:21 AM
Comment #43lochinvar,
Seems very unlikely, I wonder how much Crouch is paid a week.
Rotonda heights
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:23 AM
Comment #44jimmysmith
you just don’t get it about sissoko. he got parachuted to another level after a couple of games for france, not for a totally uninspiring Pl campaign which saw us relegated.
why bang on about him when it means keeping a disenchanted player who is not going to reproduce his french form every week. far from it.
Jib
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:27 AM
Comment #45veltman
Have you heard of Ryad Mahrez ?
Algerian Footballer of the Year: 2015/16
Premier League PFA Team of the Year: 2015–16
PFA Players’ Player of the Year: 2015–16
PFA Fans’ Player of the Year: 2016
Those players of North African origin are really rubbish aren’t they ?
btw Zinedine Zidane parents were Berbers from th Atlas mountains
sing in the corner
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:31 AM
Comment #46Well if Rafa solves the striking conundrum for this aft he will be climbing up the Deity league table, for sure!
We need to get the tactics right.. Over to you Rafa.
In my humble opinion I would like to see Arma get at least a half, based on the now or never theory. Think he would need to play in behind an out of position Diame though. Unless he and Perez could be linked up, but don’t fancy Perez in an advanced role against big centre half.
Can’t wait to get up there.
Howay the lads!
sing in the corner
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:33 AM
Comment #47JfA
Hope the weather is clear and you get to the game!
Looking for a big game from Ritchie and Shelvey if he plays.
That elusive creativity…
Jib
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:34 AM
Comment #48Expecting a “Life of Brian” moment from veltman
“Apart from Mahrez Bezema Ben Arfa Zidane what have the players of North African descent ever done for us ?”
jimmysmith
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:34 AM
Comment #49I do get it. I understand all the arguments, always have. I would have liked Benitez to have talked him round, or to get 35 million. One or the other. But if he stays because the right money wasn’t offered and he’s unhappy, then that’s something else and that’s a problem. On the other hand if he doesn’t perform Benitez won’t pick him. I’m confident of that. So it’s not likely to upset the team if he stays. This myth that he’s a dud player though, is exactly that, a myth. He isn’t. He’s good. Extremely good by Championship standards.
Jib
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:35 AM
Comment #50Watch “The Haka” and tremble you Aussies
sing in the corner
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:37 AM
Comment #51Jimmy
If he does end u staying I’m sure if anyone can get him functioning instead of moping Rafa can. He has made no secret he likes the player. He will be able to convince him the way to get what he wants in either Jan or the summer is to up the focus and effort and earn it.
Jib
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:40 AM
Comment #52lochinvar
That story originated on an Ipswich blog the made the Suffolk local press.
He’s 33 with a crap scoring record – cannot see myself
WWSBRD
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:43 AM
Comment #53jimmy
Sissoko can’t be good mate because fans don’t like him, doesn’t matter what he does on the pitch he’s unpopular which makes him crap…also makes him terrible for the squad
YouCouldn'tMakeItUp
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:45 AM
Comment #54They lasted less than 8 mins, Jib.
Another long day for the Aussies?
expatmag
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:47 AM
Comment #55JIB
I see you are at your obnoxious best this morning. We Aussies expect NZ to win the bledisloe as we are currently going through a rebuilding of the squad.
Historically, the haka tends to give the opposition just as much of a gee up then anything else.
Jib
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:48 AM
Comment #56The New Zealand scrum half Aaron Smith is tearing the Wallabies a new one
Ian Toon
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:48 AM
Comment #57Rotonda- Know wonder you’re going for the dead cat bounce. I would have recommended a low profile and certainly not sharing your football expertise with those who remember your track record. With your form of spotting a good player/ manager how you ever have the nerve to point the finger at those more worthy! IMHO Jimmy’s forgotten more about football .etc etc………… .
Belgium in the wake of a Euro 2016 campaign in which their national football team displayed an urgent need for discipline and defensive rigour, the country’s football federation decided that its new manager would be none other than Roberto Martínez. Yes Martinez a meticulous taskmaster commonly believed to impose a strict diet of pie in the sky. Get relegated with Wigan, get hired by Everton; get sacked by Everton, land one of the world’s most coveted international gigs in the world; yes, Martínez’s curious career path made Belgium the obvious next destination.
Today, with his debut match scheduled for next week against his native Spain, Martínez announced his first squad since his appointment. It contained no shocks, Fifa rules preventing any call-up for Antolín Alcaraz. So most of the players who have been failing to form a coherent whole for the last four years have been recalled. But Martínez did stun onlookers by revealing that his assistant, along with his longtime accomplice Graeme Jones, will be Thierry Henry, who will be charged with providing a lot more stimulus to Belgium’s listless stars than he has been providing to viewers of Sky Sports since becoming the pundit most admired by taxidermists.
expatmag
Aug 27, 2016 at 8:51 AM
Comment #58KNOW WONDER…… LMAO
stuart no9
Aug 27, 2016 at 9:19 AM
Comment #59I would keep him if no decent offer came in. I would tell him to train hard , stop crying and fight for his place , if he didn’t I would bench him untill he bucks his ideas up of I would make him train with the kids . Ok , it’s not doing the club any good but he must be told that e is a Newcastle player for next 3 years . Keep him away from the squad untill he puts his face right .
Make him realise , play the game with the club or he’s finished as a footballer . Good job I’m not his manager , so no , th price is £35m . That’s it .
Al Yalayis Lad
Aug 27, 2016 at 1:31 PM
Comment #60El Mohammedi is not a bad player from North Africa!!
So was Ben Arfa , jokes aside.
6 months ago I would have accepted 15Mil for Sissoko, so 25 now seems ok to get him out, and get some normality in the dressing room.
He is crap, and most clubs know that, why would anybody pay 35 Mil for him, lets get real, the Andy Carroll deal will not happen agin