How much of a loss is Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle?

Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye looks set to make a move French giants PSG

According to reports from Sky Sports, Newcastle have agreed a deal to sell star midfielder Yohan Cabaye to mega-rich French Ligue One outfit PSG.

The Magpies turned down a bid of around £14million on Sunday, but the latest bid is believed to be closer to £20million.

The French international’s future on Tyneside had been in doubt for a while, after the 28-year-old was linked with a move to Arsenal on deadline day of the summer transfer window.

According to his Newcastle boss Alan Pardew, the midfielder’s head was turned by the attention.

Outstanding

However, despite failing to gain a move to the Gunners, Cabaye has gone on to be outstanding for the team from the north east. The French international has scored seven goals and created four for his teammates in the Premier League this season and been the main creative influence in the Newcastle midfield.

His performances for Newcastle were always going to attract attention and it seems they have attracted the attention of the biggest club in France.

Attractive

PSG were always going to be an attractive proposition for Cabaye. The Parisians offer the midfielder a route home, the chance to win trophies and play Champions League. There is also of course the likely rise in the player’s pay packet.

A move to Paris could be an ideal one, especially with a World Cup on the horizons in June. It all seems to have worked out nicely for the player, but what about Newcastle?

Loss

Cabaye will be a major loss to the Newcastle midfield there is no doubt about it. His quality on the ball, passing skills and ability to score a goal will be majorly missed. Magpies boss Alan Pardew is loathed to lose the midfielder and has expressed his desire to keep hold of the former-Lille star.

It was always going to be difficult to keep hold of the midfielder with Cabaye’s excellent form and the big spenders circling. Newcastle could not keep hold of the midfielder. He wanted to play at highest level, e.g. the Champions League and he could see that was not going to happen on Tyneside.

It will be near impossible for the Newcastle boss to go out and sign a player of Cabaye’s quality, even with the Cabaye fee burning a hole in his pocket. Then there is the matter of whether Pardew will get the money to reinvest in the team.

Signing

The Magpies look set to bring in Holland international forward Luuk de Jong from German club Monchengladbach. The 23-year-old is a long-term transfer target for Newcastle and is believed to be on Tyneside having a medical.

It seems that De Jong is another striker that will arrive on a loan deal, with French international Loic Remy already at the club on a season long loan deal from QPR. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley seems to have lost his chequebook.

Money

Surely Pardew must be given some of the money raised from the sale of Cabaye. Newcastle are not that far off the top six and are odds of 12/1 to finish in that top six, but are about to part-company with their best player. Magpies fans are used to being short-changed by the clubs hierarchy, but the club cannot continue to operate in the same way.

Football may be a business to Mr Ashley and the rest of the Newcastle hierarchy, but the fans are the life and soul of the club. Does the Newcastle owner have no ambition of turning his club into a major force in English football?

It does not seem so. It seems he is happy for Newcastle to remain in midtable. Newcastle have only stayed relativity stable because of the clubs scouts and managerial team. I am not Alan Pardew’s biggest fan, but to his credit he has kept the Magpies on a relatively even-keel in recent seasons.

Hope

Newcastle fans will be hoping, rather than expecting to see new faces arrive at their club before the transfer window shuts on Friday night, apart from De Jong that is. However, I am sure they know their club well enough to see that the clubs hierarchy are always going to put money before football. That is a crying shame for a football club with such potential.

How much of a loss is Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle?