Moussa Sissoko. The £30m man
Transfer deadline day for Newcastle United fans in recent times has often brought a tense evening full of worry, disappointment and inevitable failure - after all, under Mike Ashley’s guidance we had become a selling club, a club that players used as a stepping stone towards bigger things. Selling players was what we did and we did it well, replacing them was always an after thought.
It is the January 2011 winter transfer window that sticks in most fans’ minds as this is when Andy Carroll was sold to Liverpool for a club record £35m. Carroll had only really broken in to the side the season before, playing a big part in Newcastle United winning the Championship title and he had started the return season in the Premiership incredibly well also, netting 11 times in only 20 games. He had been handed the fabled number 9 shirt, something not to be sniffed at; he was a Geordie, the fans loved him, he was young, he had a huge future ahead of him at the club he loved, he genuinely could have become a legend - but then that bid came in. The timing could not have been worse, we had absolutely no time to replace him and the season petered out in to nothingness, the club ending 12th (oh how we would have settled for that last season!). We all know how the move went for Carroll in Liverpool but I suspect most Newcastle fans would welcome him back with open arms should the opportunity arise. Selling Carroll hurt, it hurt a lot.
Anyway, the reason for that little bit of reminiscing is of course to lead me nicely on to a certain Moussa Sissoko. I have held off writing much on Sissoko this season as there have been so many good things to write about, I don’t see the point of tarnishing my articles with any mention of him - he has contributed nothing this season other than giving interviews to the French press. He has played the victim all season, Newcastle were keeping him against his will; he was a Champions League class player and the club should let him go.
After the curtain fell on Euro 2016, most talk centred around the great Moussa Sissoko and how the worlds greatest clubs all wanted him. Real Madrid and Juventus were credited with interest. There was talk of Chelsea and PSG also. However, unfortunately for Moussa, the interest shown by those clubs appeared to be gossip at best - agents talking to increase their percentages off their own client sales, quite simply, Sissoko was not as wanted as he thought he would be. There was then talk of the mighty WBA showing an interest, then along came trendy uncle Alan’s Crystal Palace but again, no bids. Was Sissoko going to stop at Newcastle?
I’m writing this at 9pm on transfer deadline day - news broke about an hour ago that he was heading to Everton for £30m. Yes, that’s right THIRTY MILLION POUNDS. Oh, Everton aren’t in the Champions League either, such a shame.
I’ll do my best to summarise Sissoko in a few sentences for any Everton (or perhaps even Spurs fans depending on how long it takes me to write this) who may stumble across this article wanting to find out about their new man.
Firstly, I have no idea what position he plays - seriously, no idea - is he an attacking midfielder, a winger, a central box to box midfielder? No idea sorry. He has played in the number 10 role for Newcastle but mainly as a right winger - in my opinion he is neither, he is a central box to box midfielder which is unfortunately a role he has rarely played in at the club. To his credit, when he has played there, he has performed ok.
Next - the Sissoko you saw at Euro 2016 is not, I repeat not, the player you are getting. Sissoko performs when the cameras are on him, occasionally. He played well on his debut for the club, scoring twice against Chelsea and he perhaps played a part in 1 or 2 games after then but that is it, I am not exaggerating, that is it. You could say he was playing in a poor side and that reflected on his performances and you could be right, since we have signed Sissoko we have been woeful. That is certainly not down to Sissoko but he has not helped. He has hid in most games, he is anonymous a lot of the time. He has a touch that loses possession in dangerous areas; quite frankly he became a liability.
He can run, boy can he run. He puts his head down and goes for it. But his head never comes up, he has no final ball and he can not finish. Passing is not his forte.
The Sissoko I saw at Euro 2016 made my draw drop - he was incredible, and on the off chance Everton have signed that player then fair play, £30m is about right. But that is not the Sissoko I know and I suspect it will not be the Sissoko Everton see. £30m is crazy money for Sissoko, absolutely bonkers - we have made a £28m profit on him in a few years and for the life of me I have no idea how or why. Yes, we signed him cheap as his contract was running out - at the time we signed him, he was relatively young, highly thought of in France, a powerful midfielder but a bit of an unknown.
Will we replace Sissoko? I suspect not this window but you could argue he was replaced when Mohammed Diame signed earlier in the summer. A player of a similar physical build but with Championship experience and a canny eye for goal. He also cost a 1/10 of what we are due to sell Sissoko for.
I wanted to concentrate on Sissoko for this article and I feel a bit guilty for that. Sissoko is not the story of Newcastle United’s transfer window - he he a by product, a minor sale, albeit for a hugely inflated fee. I will do a bit of a summary of Newcastle United’s transfer window soon, after all it has been a busy one with 18 players leaving (19 when Sissoko is official) and 11 players coming in (12 when Christian Atsu is finally announced) - there is certainly a lot to talk about!
I think back to when Andy Carroll was sold and that left me feeling gutted - the club hurt me deeply with that. Tonight I am over the moon that Sissoko has gone and the £30m fee is just the icing on the cake - he contributed nothing, absolutely nothing during his time on Tyneside. I don’t wish bad things on him, I really don’t as quite frankly he means nothing to me. He has sulked for the majority of the time at the club, he lacks heart, passion and desire and I genuinely do not care what becomes of him.
We’ve signed a full team this summer, got rid of the deadwood and have ended up with an overall profit of £31m (give or take agent fees etc). This has been a hugely successful window and that is what I take from this summer. However, I do of course want that money re-invested and under Rafa’s guidance I am 110% sure it will be - but at the right time, on the right players - we certainly won’t be making any last minute panic buys.