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Opinion

Watch brilliant Siem de Jong goal but injury still the story – Depressing statistics of what might have been

5 years ago
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Siem de Jong was the perfect player for Newcastle United but signed for all the wrong reasons.

A replacement for Yohan Cabaye who had left for £20m in the January, the Ajax captain was signed for what looked a bargain £6m.

A dominant figure in Dutch domestic football, Siem de Jong had also impressed in the Champions League, two performances against Manchester City especially eyecatching.

However, Mike Ashley was simply pursuing his usual path of risk taking and Siem de Jong had just experienced a nightmare season of injuries, including a thigh injury, hamstring problems and a collapsed lung.

We quickly learnt why the transfer fee was so low.

A perfect player for Newcastle in terms of ability he had shown in previous years but that wasn’t what NUFC were buying.

A further catalogue of injuries followed and Siem de Jong only ever started four league matches for Newcastle United, £1.5m per start, not quite a bargain in reality.

Since signing for Newcastle five years ago, Siem de Jong has only started 27 league matches in total.

He is now on loan at Sydney FC, whilst along the way turning out for PSV on loan before what looked a dream return when Newcastle sold him back to Ajax for £2m.

However, after only four league starts he was sent on loan to the A-League in Australia to try and revive his career.

Now 30, Siem de Jong is still showing touches of class.

However, that is still undermined by injuries.

He came back and scored this very clever goal on Friday, just look at him do the keeper with his eyes.

That goal in a win over Brisbane Roar though came after a latest injury absence, his first appearance since January.

This is a superb free-kick he scored against Adelaide United in January before he was injured yet again.

There are only a handful of matches remaining and now turned 30, it will be interesting to see where Siem de Jong goes next.

A player who could have been a class act for Newcastle United if injury hadn’t intervened.

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