We already knew it was going to be a long long summer in terms of transfer speculation and possibly transfer reality, especially when it comes to Newcastle United’s elite players.
West Brom defensive midfielder, Youssouf Mulumbu, has revealed that his representatives have already been in talks with United.
Mulumbu told Mercato365: “Last year, I thought it would be a little premature to go because it was my first full season. But I confirmed [my promise] this season. I continued to show all my abilities and I think I now have to look for another challenge.
“That’s why I hope to join a club in another class. I had a good year, I’m pretty confident and I will leave it now to my agent.
“I’m going to go on holiday and come back stronger because I know that another big season ahead.
“We have already started talking to teams like Newcastle and Tottenham. For now, I’m leaving it all in the hands of my agent and I hope to have good surprises on my return from vacation”.
Whether this transfer deal has any legs we’ll find out in the coming weeks but it does add extra fuel to the idea that Cheick Tiote might be our star player most likely to end up elsewhere this summer as the role he performs is one that some of the successful clubs are most desperate to fill.
The bare statistics when you compare the two players’ English careers are:
Tiote – Played 52, 1 Goal, 25 Yellow Cards, 1 Red Card
Mulumbu – Played 122, 11 Goals, 17 Yellows, 3 Red
Statistics of course only tell you so much (though that figure of 26 cards in only 52 matches is ridiculous!), I think that just about every big result Newcastle have achieved in the last two seasons have been achieved with Cheick at the heart of them – the 3-0 win over Manchester United, 2-0 at Chelsea, the 4-4 fightback against Arsenal and so on.
One big positive with Mulumbu is that he packed in international football so there is no danger of him heading off with DR Congo to the African Cup of Nations unlike Tiote and our strikers. Mulumbu also showed up well in last season’s statistics when he was behind only Yohan Cabaye and Scott Parker when it came to tackles/interceptions in the Premier League.
If somebody offers ‘silly’ money for Cheick Tiote….
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