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Liverpool great Ronnie Whelan rues not getting the chance to play for Newcastle United

7 years ago
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Ronnie Whelan has been talking about the possibility of James McCarthy joining Newcastle.

The former Liverpool star saying ‘James McCarthy has no real decision to make if Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez wants him and Mike Ashley pays the fee’.

Whelan says that the midfielder won’t get a better club than Everton but that Newcastle United would be a great option, giving McCarthy the chance of ‘the kind of reverence which the Toon delivers for its heroes’.

Ronnie Whelan represented the Republic of Ireland the same as James McCarthy does now, although of course he played club football for the red half of Merseyside.

Whelan was at Anfield for 15 years from 1979 to 1994 and also played in midfield like McCarthy, although he was occasionally played as a defender.

Despite the small matter of 19 trophies in his Liverpool days, including six league titles and a European Cup, the former player paid a special tribute to Newcastle United.

He says that he ‘would have loved to have experienced St James Park in full cry with a Toon shirt on’.

Lets hope that when transfer targets are approached in the summer, they also value the potential opportunity of doing exactly that.

Ronnie Whelan talking to Independent.ie:

“James McCarthy has no real decision to make if Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez wants him and Mike Ashley pays the fee.

“This could be the test of wills which Benitez needs to get assurances from Ashley that he is willing to back him in the Premier League.

“I thought Martin O’Neill’s response when asked about McCarthy last week was very interesting.

“For all the noise between Ronald Koeman and the Ireland manager, McCarthy has been a peripheral figure (partly down to injury) for both men.

“So this is a big, big summer for the lad and I think he has no future at Everton.

“McCarthy had a very good season in 2013/14 and looked like a good buy for Everton until injuries began to take a toll on the amount of time he was on the pitch.

“Realistically, McCarthy won’t get a better club than Everton so he may choose to stick it out and hope that Koeman moves on.

“Failing that, why not take a punt on Newcastle and make a pitch for the kind of reverence which the Toon delivers for its heroes?

“Football had it’s own plans for me but I would have loved to have experienced St James Park in full cry with a Toon shirt on.”

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