Newcastle have made a blistering start to life in the Championship after Rafa Benitez completed a summer overhaul that saw a lot of transfer activity. You could forgive Benitez if he has one eye on a return to the Premier League now and looks to start shaping his squad ready for next season. He will look to further trim his squad in the January transfer window to make room for signing new recruits in the summer.
And there are a few players that look likely to leave.
Cheick Tiote
The tough tackling midfielder signed for Newcastle as the deadline neared in August 2010 for a fee of £3.5million from Dutch side FC Twente. For quite a few seasons he was a mainstay of the Newcastle midfield as his presence protected the Newcastle defence.
Such was the impression that he made, just 18 months after signing for Newcastle, he signed a 6 and a half year contract to stay at the North East club as they looked to fend off any potential interest from other clubs.
However, his lack of any subtlety soon started to wear thin on both Newcastle fans and management, and after making 50 appearances he had picked up 25 yellow cards, a return of one yellow card every 2 games, which saw him miss quite a few games through suspension. Clearly, he wasn’t a player the team could rely on.
It is the last 3 seasons, in particular, Tiote’s form has dropped and he now looks completely out of favour at St James park, losing his role in the team. He has been linked with moves to Qatar, and it looks increasingly likely that he will be moved on this January as he is a big earner.
Sammy Ameobi
The name Ameobi has been connected to Newcastle United for 16 years after Nigerian-born striker Shola Ameobi made his debut in September 2000. He wasn’t the greatest player in the world, but he was well thought of and did produce some good moments in a Newcastle shirt, as seen in his 14 seasons playing for the North-East club. However, when he moved to gain first team football, he passed the baton onto his younger brother, winger Sammy Ameobi.
Sammy looked quite an exciting prospect when he first started making appearances for Newcastle. He was a completely different player to his older brother. He was more nimble and looked to travel with the ball at speed.
However, he has never quite been given a chance at Newcastle to really develop, and when he has played his flattered to deceive. All the runs and dribbles didn’t really have any end product.
He is currently on loan at Bolton until January and has gained some good reviews for his performances. Bolton assistant manager recently said of him:
“Sammy Ameobi was unplayable at times, he is a talent, there is no doubt about it. He needed a run in a team, to be given a chance – we have done that for him.”
So Newcastle United will be hoping that young Ameobi will have done enough to secure a move in January when he is due to return.
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