There’s news in the Sun today that Rafa Benitez wants to sign Swansea forward Gylfi Sigurdsson this summer and of course he was a former target of ours before he signed on at Tottenham in 2012.
He has been playing excellent football in south Wales for the last three years and only recently said that while he was enjoying helping Swansea in their relegation battle, he looked forward to joining a bigger club at some point in the future.
The 27 year-old play-maker is said to be available for around £15M and for a player of his ability, that would not be a bad price.
27 year-old Swansea forward Gylfi Sigurdsson
He would be a terrific signing if we can get him – but some other big clubs could also be after him this summer.
Mo Diame and Ayoze Perez have both played in the number 10 position this season, but Sigurdsson is a better player than Mo and Ayoze and he would certainly improve the Newcastle side.
Sigurdsson initially played for Reading in England back in 2008 and then moved to 1899 Hoffenheim in 2010 before playing for Swansea on loan before signing on full time at Tottenham in the summer of 2012.
He stayed at Tottenham for only two years before signing on full time at Swansea in the summer of 2014.
At Swansea over the last three years he’s played 122 times with 36 goals and 28 assists – and we wonder how good Gylfi could become if he was coached by the world-class Rafa Benitez?
Rafa could also be a big draw for the Icelandic International if Newcastle are a Premier League side next season and he may well want to join the growing Rafa revolution on Tyneside.
He would be a terrific signing for us and certainly worth £15M.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
41 comments so far
cyprus
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:47 AM
Comment #1Does Rafa have a ruthless streak? I know it was meant as a compliment but doesn’t sound like one.
Pragmatic, ok. Decisive, ok. Ruthless though..
cyprus
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:48 AM
Comment #2This player.
Sounds like what we need but he was poor at Spurs. That’s a concern.
cyprus
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:52 AM
Comment #3Not sure they’d sell at 15 TBH.
That team had so much going for it. Outplaying arsenal, Barcelona a lite etc. They kept selling the best, firing great coaches, ending up in this mess. Shame.
cyprus
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:53 AM
Comment #4Autocorrect: labeled Barcelona-lite
welshgeordie9
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:55 AM
Comment #5No chance in hell that’s going to happen.
welshgeordie9
Mar 27, 2017 at 8:59 AM
Comment #6Other clubs will come in for him which will make it harder for Rafa, said it months ago him, shelvey and ritchie pulling the strings would be just mouthwatering to watch.
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:16 AM
Comment #7We won’t get him for £15m !!!
http://icelandreview.com/news/2017/02/02/swansea-city-rejects-ps30-million-interest-icelander
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:24 AM
Comment #8The chronicle done an interview with a scout last year I think it was who had said he had recommended Sigurdsson to the Toon before he went to Spurs and he was available when we sold Cabaye except we decided to get De Jong and Cabella……
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:35 AM
Comment #9Lee Charnley Bunga Party @8
That tale doesn’t really hang together
Gylfi left Hoffenheim in 2012 for Spurs
Cabaye left the Toon in 2014 for PSG
De Jong left Ajax 2014 for the Toon
WWSBRD
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:38 AM
Comment #1015 mill is his relegation clause surely? Can’t see him going for that little if they stay up, unless he kicks up a fuss. Only team Ive seen linked with him are Everton who will have a lot to spend in the summer but they are already overloaded with midfielders
Would be a good buy probably the best PL proven CAM available come summer, I’d like to see him come in but I don’t have high hopes
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:43 AM
Comment #11How much time together on the pitch at Swansea did he and Shelvey have ?
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:45 AM
Comment #12This seems positive
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=113706328694527&story_fbid=888232567908562
de only ethiopi
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:52 AM
Comment #13Well it could happen …actually we have a decent chance ..plus the money and his wage that’s what matter in football this days ..not ur history or pattion just money …if u have money u can literally buy anyone lets not for get city ..Chelsea
lesh
Mar 27, 2017 at 9:57 AM
Comment #14All of this paper talk linking us and Rafa with players who are over 26 can only irritate Ashley and harden his view that such players are too old and at variance to his reported policy.
Similarly, all of the pro-Rafa hype will probably harden his view that Rafa is but an employee of the Club, not the owner and as such, should toe the line and comply with Ashley’s short-sighted wishes.
Rafa’s public utterances about his wishes for and ambition at Newcastle United won’t help as Ashley will likely feel as though he’s being forced into a corner, forced to agree with and give Rafa and the fans whatever Rafa wants. Ashley won’t like it.
Put all this together and there’s all the potential for an Ashley – Rafa stand-off that can only damage the Club and undo all of the good things we’ve seen of late.
As we’ve seen with Ashley’s attitude to his well-publicised resistance to improve employment conditions at SD – despite parliamentary and media interest, he seems to one who wants to do things his way and his way only – no matter how it impacts on his image. In his eyes, money and making it is his driver.
It could be yet be summer of even more controversy at Newcastle United. Let’s hope Ashley has the sense to keep his fingers out of the mix and help Rafa take tge Club forward.
1949BH PROUDTOBEAGEORDIE
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:04 AM
Comment #15lcbp at 8 and jib at 9 we tried to sign at carrs recommendation lazy gutless grenier to replace cabaye who luckily for us did not want to.
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:18 AM
Comment #16@Jib
Wasn’t a tale mate sure if you google it you would be able to find the story !
Sigurdsson left Spurs the same window in which we sold Cabaye!!
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:23 AM
Comment #17There will be a bidding war for Sigurdsson, and we all know Ashley doesn’t do bidding wars against other clubs.
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:29 AM
Comment #18Lee Charnley Bunga Party
You said
“The chronicle done an interview with a scout last year I think it was who had said he had recommended Sigurdsson to the Toon before he went to Spurs ”
You meant left Spurs for Swansea – probably.
However it’s still cobblers as Gylfi had been to Swansea on loan and the Welsh club had first refusal
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 10:40 AM
Comment #19“AncientC
There will be a bidding war for Sigurdsson, and we all know Ashley doesn’t do bidding wars against other clubs”
Erm — except when he does !
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/sunderland-make-11m-bid-for-psv-captain-georginio-wijnaldum-guardian/
beermonkey
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:01 AM
Comment #20did sigurdsson fail at spurs as some say
around 4 mnths ago pochitino had this to say
Mauricio Pochettino says Gylfi Sigurdsson would have been a “perfect player” for him at Tottenham Hotspur, as he lamented how the midfielder was allowed to leave for Swansea City in the summer of 2014.
Pochettino had been appointed as the Spurs manager on 27 May of that year and he named Sigurdsson in the starting XI for his first match in charge on 19 July – a friendly against Seattle Sounders on the pre-season tour of the United States. But, 40 minutes before kick-off, Pochettino was forced to withdraw Sigurdsson from the lineup, after taking a call from the board to tell him a deal had been agreed with Swansea. It was essentially a swap in which the defender Ben Davies joined from the Liberty Stadium.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/dec/02/gylfi-sigurdsson-perfect-tottenham-pochettino
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:13 AM
Comment #2115m? No chance if they stay up does he go for that! Seen 35-40m banded around, more likely to be closer to reality (and further away from our budget).
I like Sigurdsson though, very similar in style to our own De Jong, was hoping siem would be as successful but maybe injuries, more than ability played a part in that not happening
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:20 AM
Comment #22@Beermonkey – from what I gather, Sigurdsson did well at spurs, then they changed manager (maybe to or from AVB? Can’t remember) and the formation changed which meant there was no true #10 (which is what he is) and he looked too sluggish to play central midfield and isn’t a striker so had to leave. More a case of being made into a square peg for a round hole rather than failing though. Let’s be honest, we’ve seen a few good players at Newcastle fail because the system doesn’t accommodate their type of player.
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:25 AM
Comment #23Missed the Charlie taylor post further down, heard he’s signing for Liverpool though! Was a few stories about his agent telling clubs to just not bother, hes a Liverpool fan, and Liverpool want him
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:29 AM
Comment #24Jib, a bidding war is when two or more parties raise the price on a player. Sunderland didn’t raise the asking price on Wijnaldum.
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:31 AM
Comment #25Jib, you must have been busy looking for an example of Ashley outbidding another club for a player. Is that the only example you could come up with?
If you really want to go in-depth, why don’t you do a list of the last, say, 20 players signed by Newcastle. Then attribute a status of: signed by outbidding another club who raised the asking price, or the contrary. See how far you get with that one.
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:46 AM
Comment #26AncientC
I wasn’t busy at all
GW was the first one that jumped into my head
We also were in competition against a Portuguese side (Sporting I think ) for Mitro’s signature
Regarding Wijnaldum his price jumped from the scums original £11m to a final £15m we paid so I guess there was some behind the scenes to-ing and fro-ing.
DubaiMicky
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:50 AM
Comment #27In the Chronicle:-
“A clause in Jermain Defoe’s means he can leave for free if the Black Cats are playing Championship football next season”.
Oh how I’d laugh if we got him, he scored 25+ in his first season and we got top 10.
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:50 AM
Comment #28find it amazing after 10 years of Ashley repeating behaviours etc, people will still argue for him.
He rarely gets into bidding wars. Newcastle mainly sign players for more than others will pay from foreign sides who can’t afford to say no. (see any buy from Montpellier)
Failing that, they activate release clauses or free transfers. Occasionally, they’ll sign a player trying to force his way out of a club (or a player a club are trying to force out).
I couldn’t name the last time Newcastle really got into a bidding war, I suspect it might have been Rooney when shepherd was owner? Perhaps Michael Owen?
No reason to think next year will be any different… every player under Ashley we sign will always be a knockdown price because of some kind of risk element – be it unproven at top level, previous injuries etc
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:52 AM
Comment #29Jib, we were the only club that asked the offering price for Wijnaldum, hence why he was signed. Unless you can name another club who offered the same/more. That is when a bidding war would start.
Mitrovic was bought for his asking price too. Do you remember a club making a higher offer than us for Mitrovic, in which we had to increase the offer?
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:54 AM
Comment #30@Jib – for Mitro, the Portuguese clubs just couldn’t afford him. They were part of a chain that never came off , benfica, porto and sporting were all waiting on 30m transfers of Gaitan/Slimani (forgot who porto were selling) so never made offers. By the time they had sold the players they needed to to fund the move Mitrovic had signed for Newcastle (probably because he was at risk of missing out on any move)
If I remember rightly, Mitrovics’ people whored him out constantly in the press to Benfica and Sporting and delayed signing for Newcastle as long as they could…
fact is, only one side made an offer for Mitrovic and that was us. No bidding war happened
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 11:55 AM
Comment #31I am fairly sure it is club policy to get value for money. The club will pay a certain amount, and will not go over that. This is why the club does not enter bidding wars for players.
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:02 PM
Comment #32@ancient – I’ve no doubt rafa or no rafa, that we’ll still be raiding the cheaper European markets somewhat.
Not sure what I think about it tho.. rafa got sissoko playing well, and I can only dream about what he would have done with Cabaye, HBA,Ba even to a smaller extent Cabella and Thauvin (though to be fair, thauvin not wanting to be here hampered that really as apposed to coaching/management)
I do think Carr can be an asset when it comes to transfers, but in no way should Rafa not be the decider on who goes or stays or arrives
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:12 PM
Comment #33Jay
The inference was that we don’t enter bidding wars because Ashley is some kind of cheapskate, a false perception , derived from the clubs “soflty softly catchee monkee” approach.
Cabella
De Jong
Cabaye
Daryl Janmaat
and many more were fait accomplis before the media got a sniff.
The only one we missed and went back for next window , that I can remember , was Cabaye’s erstwhile boyfriend , Mathieu Debuchy.
Paradoxically MD was Cabayes best man – since when Yohan has left his wife and the 2 players don’t speak any more !!!
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:17 PM
Comment #34jayphoto, yep. I was proposing that the club should move for some young players that cannot get into the sides of big clubs. If we go in, and instead of asking for a loan, offer to buy and give the parent club a buy-back option, that could possibly open up some possibilities. There is always the risk that the parent club comes back for the player, but if we are talking about some of the biggest clubs, it takes something special to be good enough for their first 11 anyway.
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:20 PM
Comment #35“The inference was that we don’t enter bidding wars because Ashley is some kind of cheapskate”
He is a cheapskate, that is the whole point.
No net spend for the whole duration we were in the PL after his first relegation, that was until last season, when Ashley made a net spend on young players, this was because player inflation was just about to kick in, and he knew he could make a profit… at worse, get his money back.
AncientC
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:26 PM
Comment #36Make no mistake, under Ashley, we are proportionally one of the worst invested in clubs, within English football.
There are clubs playing in the lower tiers that can manage to have a net-spend. If a club had a £1 net-spend… it would be more than Ashley’s overall spend on players for 5/6 years.
jayphoto
Mar 27, 2017 at 12:29 PM
Comment #37@Ancient – from what I’ve seen, Brown, Abraham and Moy would all be good premier league players that probably won’t ever break through at Chelsea or Man City. Chelsea in particular is a gold mine of players aged 20-23 that probably won’t ever play in their first team.
In Spain, Castilla are similar, so many good players start there but never make Madrids squad but go on to have big careers.
Moy in particular could be worth 40/50m in future, not because he’s that good, but because of the Chinese super league rules that only allow 4 foreigners + 2 Asian players that aren’t Chinese. Australia comes into that category meaning that the premium on any top level players from Australia/Korea will probably go through the roof in a season or 2, as every team in china will have 4 great foreign players, but there isn’t so many high level Asian players meaning those players could be the difference between winning the league and not (as by rules you have to field 5 Chinese players in each line up)
Mister Tuff
Mar 27, 2017 at 1:14 PM
Comment #38Hahahaha.
Jib reckons Mr Tubbs is not a cheapskate.
Where the hell have you been over the last few years.
Of course he’s a cheapskate – his penny pinching got us relegated, resulted in a load of knackers being appointed at the club.
His master “el cheapo” plan to run a football club failed miserably.
Have you been in a coma for a few years?
Jib
Mar 27, 2017 at 2:02 PM
Comment #39Mr Tuff
You fall into the same trap of many on here.
Just because his wealth is based on selling cheap crap you elucidate that effects his thinking.
That’s pretty simplistic and foolish if you think about it.
He clearly , early doors , thought that running a footy club was easy , that mistaken view had more to do with the last bad 8/9 years than any parsimony.
Cheapskates don’t offer six year contracts to all and sundry.
lesh
Mar 27, 2017 at 3:31 PM
Comment #40Jib only defends Ashley to engage in dialogue with other posters. Simply put, he’s attention seeking, narcissistic!