Salary sacrifice scuppered Gomis deal
In an interview in France Bafetimbi Gomis has lifted the lid on what exactly went on last month and why his proposed move to Newcastle fell through - surprise surprise, it stemmed from us attempting to move the goalposts at the last minute in a bid to pinch the pennies:
"I was interested in two clubs and after a discussion with the coach [national coach Didier Deschamps] I decided on Newcastle as he recommended them because there are already many French internationals. I then talked to Newcastle’s coach and we reached an agreement. There followed a discussion with Lyon when an initial offer was rejected but a second accepted. Newcastle later came back to me and asked me to take lower wages but I said to myself, it wasn’t I who had asked to leave but my club [Lyon]. So if there was an effort to be made with the finances it was up to Newcastle or Lyon to find the money."
So, just to get this straight, we had another French international keen to sign up - and a striker to boot - but managed to scupper the deal through our own tightfistedness. Marvellous. Why we continue to indulge in such stupid and costly acts of brinkmanship I have no idea, and, having been treated with so little respect, it's a wonder that Gomis would apparently still be open to the possibility of a move in the future.
"I was interested in two clubs and after a discussion with the coach [national coach Didier Deschamps] I decided on Newcastle as he recommended them because there are already many French internationals. I then talked to Newcastle’s coach and we reached an agreement. There followed a discussion with Lyon when an initial offer was rejected but a second accepted. Newcastle later came back to me and asked me to take lower wages but I said to myself, it wasn’t I who had asked to leave but my club [Lyon]. So if there was an effort to be made with the finances it was up to Newcastle or Lyon to find the money."
So, just to get this straight, we had another French international keen to sign up - and a striker to boot - but managed to scupper the deal through our own tightfistedness. Marvellous. Why we continue to indulge in such stupid and costly acts of brinkmanship I have no idea, and, having been treated with so little respect, it's a wonder that Gomis would apparently still be open to the possibility of a move in the future.
Labels: newcastle, transfer window
posted by Ben at 8:31 am
2 Comments:
I'm by no means a fan of the current management at NUFC but I would advise to take these sorts of interviews with a grain of salt. It could be just his attempt at spinning the story in his favour to keep the door open for a future move.
I sounds believable at first glance but it shouldn't be treated as fact. v
While I take your point about this only being one side of the story, I don't see how these comments could be interpreted as an attempt to "keep the door open" - if anything, they'd be more likely to offend the club hierarchy for portraying them in an unflattering light. We'll see, though. You never know - Gomis could yet be among another wave of French signings in January, assuming the autumn goes badly...
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