The Demba Ba story was always going to be a pain this Summer, once it became clear his contract issues wouldn’t be sorted before the players went off for their jollies.
The latest round of stories, lies and nonsense has had everything from claims that Ba travelled twice to Turkey to speak to Galatasaray, right through to he has no intention of leaving and it is just his numerous ‘representatives’ pitching his name at clubs in the hope he’ll agree to a move which will land them bid wads of cash, for their…work.
The truth is somewhere but proving a bit elusive to pin down at the moment, you pay your money and take your choice.
One interesting aside is that Demba Ba was more than keen in the past to use Twitter to get his message out to his 120,000+ followers. In fact a number of times he even responded to questions posed by Newcastle fans to reassure them he was staying at St.James’ Park.
However, it is now twenty three days since Demba has ‘tweeted’, is the silence deafening?
My guess is that Demba Ba wants to stay at Newcastle United but also would like an improved contract in return for the removal of the much talked about transfer fee clause, believed to be limiting any fee to £7m.
I’d also like to think that Ba’s lack of public comment/tweeting is because he wants to reach agreement with Newcastle and doesn’t want to aggravate the situation.
The clause is reported to expire at the end of July so will it be possible for Demba Ba, his representatives, Mike Ashley and of course, the fans, all to be kept happy?
Be careful of falling into the short-term memory trap and just remember how immense Ba was in those months before the African Cup of Nations, plus he did well by the team even after Cisse’s arrival.
We’ve seen plenty of bad players at Newcastle United, to then recognise quality when it comes along. Demba Ba definitely falls into that category and we’d be fools to wish him away.
