Florian Thauvin has been billed to leave Newcastle United, less than six months after joining the club in a reported £12 million deal. The winger is said to be discontented with life in the North East and has been tipped to return to former club Olympique Marseille on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent deal.
Thauvin was originally part of a transfer-swap deal involving Remy Cabella who departed to the Cote d’Azur on a season-long loan from Newcastle United after a disappointing 2014/15 campaign. It now looks as though Thauvin will follow his fellow Frenchman after being left out of Saturday’s matchday squad for the victory over West Ham United.
Thauvin showed great promise on his home debut against Northampton Town, scoring and assisting in a 4-1 win, but the winger’s opportunities have since been limited to just two starts and ten cameo substitute appearances, failing to impress boss Steve McClaren and nail down a first team starting berth.
It is yet to be announced the terms and conditions of the proposed loan deal but French media sources claim that Thauvin himself has requested the loan deal to take place. Newcastle manager Steve McClaren is insistent that Thauvin still has a future at St James’ Park but it looks more likely that the winger will return to the South of France.
Thauvin’s transfer was met with a mixture of optimism and discontent from Newcastle United fans; some citing Thauvin’s worrying appearance in L’Equipe’s Ligue 1 Worst Team of the Year 2014/15 while others were optimistic at the French winger’s obvious talent and trickery. However, it seems this has not translated to the Premier League and after some distasteful chanting against the winger in question at Newcastle’s FA Cup defeat against Watford, it seems it could be the end of the road for Thauvin and his Newcastle United career, for this season at least.
Elsewhere on the transfer front, the proposed departure of Thauvin could pave the way for a new replacement arriving on Tyneside. Tottenham Hotspur’s England International winger Andros Townsend has been heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park after a row with the Spurs’ coaching staff back in November. Preliminary talks have allegedly taken place but these remain in the early stages of negotiations between the two clubs.
Meanwhile, another likely departure is that of Ivorian International Cheick Tiote, reportedly having flown to China to finalise an £8m deal to sign for Chinese Super League side Shanghai Greenland Shenhua. The defensive midfielder has played 141 times for Newcastle and has been an excellent servant for the club in his five-and-a-half years on Tyneside. Tiote will live long in the memory of United fans for his only goal for the club to this date coming in the 4-4 draw against Arsenal in February 2011, when the 29-year old sealed the Premier League’s most remarkable comeback, scoring a stunning left-footed volley past Wojciech Szczesny.
The well-documented incomings of £12m man Jonjo Shelvey and £5m Senegalese signing Henri Saivet have buoyed the Newcastle United camp with signs of investment not quietening down just yet. The January transfer window of 2016 has already been an eventful for United, and it doesn’t look as though Newcastle are done just yet. Watch this space.
