As ex-Toon favourite Yohan Cabaye has been announced as a Crystal Palace player after his disappointing spell with PSG, we take a look at a line up of other players who have sought moves away from St. James’ Park, and determine whether or not they made the right call.
Shay Given
Irish stopper Given left Newcastle United after more than 11 years with the club to join Manchester City for around £7m in 2009.
Given moved to Eastlands after becoming disillusioned with the lack of progress made by Newcastle United at the time, and joined the newly-rich ranks on the blue half of Manchester to challenge for honours.
Given was handed the number one jersey for the 2009/10 season, and was in fine form for the citizens throughout the campaign before dislocating his shoulder in April, ruling him out for the rest of the season. But he was dropped by City for the opening game of the 2010/11 season opener at Tottenham Hotspur, being replaced by Joe Hart. Hart became City’s permanent first choice keeper from then on, and although Given did manage to play enough games that year to receive an FA Cup winners’ medal for that year, he moved to Aston Villa in July 2011 in search of first team football.
It didn’t get much better for Given in the midlands, as he found himself losing his first team place to the in-form Brad Guzan at the start of the 2012/13 season. He did however play in the entirety of Villa’s 2014/15 FA Cup campaign, including the defeat in the final to Arsenal.
Verdict: Despite the disappointment many Newcastle fans felt at Given’s departure, he really couldn’t be blamed for leaving. The prospect of winning titles under City’s new undership did seem too good to turn down. Despite not a massive amount of first-team football since he left St. James’ Park, he did manage to claim the winners’ medal he sought after, and if not for an unfortunate injury during the 2009/10 season, he may even have kept Joe Hart out of the City side for a while longer. Right to leave.
Mathieu Debuchy
Debuchy left Newcastle last Summer to join Arsenal for a fee of around £12m in order to play Champions League football once again.
Debuchy’s campaign at Arsenal was solid, but disrupted by injury. He damaged his ankle ligaments in a 2-2 draw at home to Manchester City in September, and then went on to dislocate his shoulder against Stoke City in January.
Debuchy returned from injury to play the entire 120 minutes of Arsenal’s FA Cup semi final win over Reading at Wembley, but young full back Hector Bellerin was chosen ahead of Debuchy for the final against Aston Villa.
Verdict: At first, this seemed a good move for all parties. Debuchy had his wish of Champions League football, and Newcastle replaced him with Daryl Janmaat, who went on to have a very good debut season for the Magpies. However, young Bellerin’s form during Debuchy’s time on the sidelines could be a huge concern for the Frenchman’s hopes of regular first team football next year. But for now, I’d say this was a good move. Right to move.
Jonathan Woodgate
Woodgate left Newcastle United in January 2003 to join Spanish giants Real Madrid, in a move that was to the surprise of many in the football world. Woodgate had been a fan favourite for Newcastle United, despite an injury-ravaged career on Tyneside. But when fit, Woodgate was considered one of the top defenders in the country.
His time at Real Madrid didn’t start off so well. Woodgate’s infamous debut for Real saw him put through his own net AND be sent off in a league match against Athletic Bilbao.
But as the campaign went on, Woodgate had established himself as a first team player. However, further injury problems again halted his playing time. In July 2007, Woodgate was voted the worst signing of the 21st century by users of Spanish sports newspaper, Marca. With over 37% of the votes.
Woodgate moved to hometown club Middlesbrough in 2006, and quickly started to win over his critics with several fine performances on Teesside, which earned him a move to Tottenham in 2008.
His first goal for Spurs came in extra time of the 2008 League Cup final against Chelsea, the winning goal in a 2-1 win. But, once again, injury problems held back Woodgate’s availability.
Woodgate went on to sign for Stoke City, before re-signing for Middlesbrough in 2012. He was an unused substitute in Boro’s recent play-off final loss to Norwich.
Verdict: £13m for a player with Woodgate’s fitness record was pretty decent business from Newcastle. It’s tough to say whether or not it was right for Woodgate to leave St. James’ Park, especially when Real Madrid are the ones knocking at your door. But with his career never taking off since then, you can’t help but wonder what would have been had Woodgate kept up his form on Tyneside for another few years. Wrong to leave.
Jose Enrique
Left back Enrique departed Newcastle for Liverpool for a reported £6m in August 2011, after being disciplined by United earlier that month for criticising the club’s transfer policy.
Enrique joined Liverpool stating intentions to “win everything” on Merseyside, and targeted Premier League success in his first year. The first few months of Enrique’s time at Liverpool were successful, he was praised by many fans and pundits for his performances. But during the second half of the season, both Enrique’s and Liverpool’s form slumped.
When Enrique returned to St. James’ Park, he was forced to play in goal after Pepe Reina’s red card for headbutting James Perch. Many Newcastle fans will fondly remember the chants of “Jose Enrique, we’re in the top six” as the Magpies went on to finish 5th that season, compared to Liverpool’s 8th.
Enrique’s time at Liverpool since then has been interrupted by frequent injuries, and he now finds himself behind Alberto Moreno in the left back pecking order.
Verdict: Enrique was a fine player for Newcastle United, and in my eyes was certainly wrong to leave. The left back spot hasn’t been anywhere near as strong since his departure, and had he stayed he could have become an even bigger asset to the club. Wrong to leave.
Charles N’Zogbia
The French winger’s well-documented move away from Newcastle came after then-manager Joe Kinnear had mispronounced his name as “insomnia” after a defeat away at Manchester City. N’Zogbia issued a statement soon after vowing to never play for Newcastle again while Kinnear was in charge. N’Zogbia signed for Wigan Athletic in 2009 in a deal which saw Ryan Taylor come the other way.
N’Zogbia went on to be a huge hit with the Wigan fans after scoring the winning goal in the 3-2 comeback win over Arsenal in 2010, a victory which all but ensured Wigan’s Premier League survival. The following season, N’Zogbia scored 10 goals for Wigan, including 5 in the last six games of the campaign to (again) keep Wigan safe from the drop.
His form for the Latics earned him a £9.5m move to Aston Villa in July 2011, where he has went on to make 77 appearances, scoring 6 goals.
Verdict: N’Zogbia was another player who had a sour opinion of Joe Kinnear’s tenure at St. James’ Park, and was probably right to seek a move away. However, his aspirations of playing Champions League football after leaving Newcastle never came close to materialising. Despite a successful spell with Wigan, the decision N’Zogbia made to move away from St. James’ Park hardly ignited his career. Wrong to leave.
Jermaine Jenas
Another player whose move away from St. James’ caused a lot of debate. Jenas was unhappy on Tyneside, and had reportedly compared life at Newcastle United to living “in a goldfish bowl”. Jenas signed for Tottenham for £7m in August 2006.
After an impressive first season with Newcastle, in the season before his move to North London, Jenas was often criticised for inexplicably dull performances. Despite this, Jenas made a strong start to his Spurs career, netting seven goals from midfield in his first season.
The midfielder’s form was praised at Tottenham, particularly during Juande Ramos’s spell in charge. He went on to make 199 appearances for Spurs, netting 26 times. But as the seasons went by, he slipped down the pecking order, and was loaned out to Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, before signing for Queens Park Rangers in 2013.
Verdict: Jenas’s move away was always one considered to be awash with arrogance by most Newcastle United fans, especially considering his failure to perform consistently for the Magpies. But his move to Spurs did turn out to be a success, and he has a League Cup winners’ medal to his name because of it. Right to leave.
Demba Ba
After 29 goals in 58 appearances for Newcastle, Ba joined Chelsea for £7m in January 2013, as the Blues triggered the striker’s contract release clause. Ba was brought in to strengthen Chelsea’s attacking threat, as their season had originally stuttered due to the poor form of Fernando Torres.
Ba’s form throughout his time at Chelsea was solid, although uninspiring. He’ll be remembered most fondly on West London for his goals against Liverpool (the infamous Steven Gerrard slip) and PSG (where his 87th minute goal sent Chelsea through to the Champions League semi-finals).
Despite wanting to fight for his place at Stamford Bridge, the arrival of Diego Costa meant that Ba was allowed to find a new club. He joined Turkish side Besiktas in 2014 and had a very impressive season, scoring 27 goals in 44 games in all competitions. It was confirmed last month that Ba had signed a three-year deal with Chinese Super League side, Shanghai Shenua.
Verdict: Demba did go on to find relatively good form with both Chelsea and Besiktas, but was hardly an instrumental force in either side. It isn’t daft to assume that had he remained with the Magpies since 2013, both he and Newcastle could have gone on to achieve much more in the past couple of years (even if his bank balance wouldn’t be quite as appealing as it is now). Wrong to leave.
