That's all folks!
On a transfer deadline day when the Mackems spunked a record £13m fee to reunite one Ghanaian World Cup penalty misser (Asamoah Gyan) with another (John Mensah), activity at St James' was very limited. Whether Chris Hughton had decided he was happy with his squad following Saturday's addition of Hatem Ben Arfa or whether frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations came to nowt, we may never know.
The big story is probably that Steven Taylor is still at the club, despite rumours of a loan approach from Celtic, with whom we've already done business in farming out Fraser Forster. The club's decision to transfer-list the defender was clearly motivated by a desire to sell him at a reasonable price, and we'll now have to wait until January for another opportunity to offload him, though for a reduced fee. But he'll certainly be an asset to the squad until then - and you never know, we may even be able to agree mutually satisfactory terms on a new contract before then.
Meanwhile, Kazenga LuaLua clearly likes to be beside the seaside, having rejoined Gus Poyet's Brighton on loan. The winger does so off the back of a decent showing in the League Cup win over Accrington Stanley - a display which suggested that in time he might yet follow his older brother into our first team.
Elsewhere, the long-running Tom Cleverley saga finally came to a close with the Man Utd midfielder joining Wigan, while former Toon loanee Zurab Khizanishvili finds himself back at Reading.
Of course, it wouldn't be a deadline day if we weren't casting our eyes around and feeling the odd pang of envy. If Spurs really have picked up Rafael van der Vaart for just £8m - and if the Premier League are prepared to ratify the deal - then they should consider themselves very, very fortunate indeed.
The big story is probably that Steven Taylor is still at the club, despite rumours of a loan approach from Celtic, with whom we've already done business in farming out Fraser Forster. The club's decision to transfer-list the defender was clearly motivated by a desire to sell him at a reasonable price, and we'll now have to wait until January for another opportunity to offload him, though for a reduced fee. But he'll certainly be an asset to the squad until then - and you never know, we may even be able to agree mutually satisfactory terms on a new contract before then.
Meanwhile, Kazenga LuaLua clearly likes to be beside the seaside, having rejoined Gus Poyet's Brighton on loan. The winger does so off the back of a decent showing in the League Cup win over Accrington Stanley - a display which suggested that in time he might yet follow his older brother into our first team.
Elsewhere, the long-running Tom Cleverley saga finally came to a close with the Man Utd midfielder joining Wigan, while former Toon loanee Zurab Khizanishvili finds himself back at Reading.
Of course, it wouldn't be a deadline day if we weren't casting our eyes around and feeling the odd pang of envy. If Spurs really have picked up Rafael van der Vaart for just £8m - and if the Premier League are prepared to ratify the deal - then they should consider themselves very, very fortunate indeed.
posted by Ben at 5:48 pm
2 Comments:
Not a bad window, youth, experienced cb and a playmaker - happy times.
Tons of respect to CH for again trying to address certain needs without splashing big money on a player just because he's available (i.e. Gyan - Mackems)
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