Steven Taylor Holds All The Cards At Newcastle United
For a defender who has not played a game for England Steven Taylor is attracting a hell of a lot of interest from rivals clubs this summer. I wonder which top European side will be in for him this weekend! Real Madrid perhaps? Inter Milan?
Taylor is a fine player, but I find it a little strange he is supposedly on the wanted lists at clubs like Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Everton, particularly as he is not an international player and has got nowhere near the England squad in the last couple of years.
However, that is not to say some of the above are not genuinely interested and I would not be surprised in the slightest if Taylor leaves St James' Park this summer.
The fact there are so many stories about clubs being interested in him suggests to me somebody behind the scenes is agitating for a move, while Newcastle do not appear to be in a financial position to resist serious bids for any of their players.
I personally believe Taylor wanted to go 12 months ago when Alan Shearer wasn't appointed permanent manager, but interest from Everton never got to the hard currency stage and the 24-year-old remained where he was and made the best out of it like everyone else.
Let's not forget he played a pivotal role in promotion before a knee ligament injury and a fractured jaw ended his campaign prematurely and Newcastle without Taylor are weaker for it.
He is at an age where he can still improve dramatically as a player and look what has happened to James Milner - I thought he was massively over-priced at £12m - since he left Tyneside. Taylor will look at that example and wonder what if.
Taylor, though, holds a strong hand. He has one year left on his contract and for all of the talk about a new deal being offered, nothing has happened yet, two months after Newcastle knew they were heading back into the Premier League. Why the delay if they are so desperate to keep him?
The leaking of stories about clubs being interested also conveniently help in contract negotiations, if he decides he does want to stay at St James' Park, but it remains to be seen whether Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias' are willing to offer him any improvement on his £30,000-a-week wage packet.
If they don't, Taylor will either look to leave immediately or he will run down his contract and leave for nothing next summer.
I can't see Ashley letting that happen, so if he stalls on a new contract, presuming it is offered, they will look to offload him to the highest bidder, using the money to bolster Hughton's stingy transfer kitty.
It is another worry at the end of a season which should have brought so much cause for optimism.
I really hope Taylor signs his new contract and is a lynchpin of the side for many years to come because he can go on to become a really top class centre-back, but it is a hope rather than an expectation.
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
He's a very good player. He's young. And he's a Geordie (more or less!).
It's a no-brainer. He's one we should be keeping.
Many thanks Luke for drawing attention to the plight of our Steven, who continues to be treated like a slave by the club he loves.
All he wants to do is be worshiped and paid a salary that reflects his status as a future captain of club and country, and the savior of mankind when Skynet wages war on the human race in 2020. As a conservative estimate I would put this figure at £120,000 a week - a sum the club previously paid this to Alan Shearer and Michael Owen and neither of those players had my boy's potential, I mean what had they achieved at 24? Certainly not as much as Steven.
If Newcastle fail to recognize Stevie's worth, I think he will be tempted away very shortly. In addition to firm interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Inter, I have heard rumblings that the Harlem Globetrotters and Melchester Rovers are also keen to secure the services of the next Bobby Moore. Apparently Roy Race sees him as the ideal replacement for Duncan McKay, who at 56 probably won't be able to play a full Premiership campaign next season.
Mark my words Steven is destined for great things, and I for one would rather see him do it wearing the black and white.
Seems to me there is need for a little reality check in respect of stories about Steven Taylor! It seems rather doubtful that playing in the lowere divisions with Wycombe and Newcastle and being part of a PL relegation squad is getting any of Barcelona, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Everton or, even Bolton or Blackpool very excited.
Much more likely is that his agent with help of a few friends (or perhaps even just using e-mail accounts in other names) is trying to put pressure on NUFC for a better deal. And of course as usual fans, and perhaps Luke, lap up such tripe!
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