On Sunday night it seemed a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s on Demba Ba’s deal with Chelsea but on Monday morning the Senegalese woke up as a Newcastle United player, still.
The talks between Chelsea and Ba’s representatives were labelled as ‘unproductive’, financial terms being the reason for the breakdown in talks between the two parties. The £7 million buyout clause in the striker’s contract hasn’t been a secret since being written-in but Ba wouldn’t come that cheap in the long run.
When Ba came to England it was for a medical with Stoke City but a dodgy knee meant he failed and went to West Ham United instead. Newcastle snapped up Ba on a free following West Ham’s relegation, but because of the long-standing knee issue, Ba’s wage at St James’ Park is a base rate of £20,000 a week plus £20,000 based on appearances but when offered a new contract at Newcastle, in order to remove the pesky release clause, Ba’s representatives wanted a dazzling £90,000 a week, the figure believed to be the stumbling block at Chelsea on Sunday night.
Newcaslte boss Alan Pardew has, finally, hit out at the people around Ba supposedly ‘advising’ him on his future and how they are dealing with any negotiations.
“I feel a little bit sorry for Demba because I think people claim to represent him who are not actually representing him,” said Pardew.
“People out there are who are not actually involved are fuelling this. But they want to be involved and that is the sort of world we are in.”
Sam Jewell