Shay Given has already started training with new club Manchester City, and now it appears as though Joe Kinnear has lost another of his best players to a Premier League rival. Will the Newcastle manager live to regret getting this player’s name wrong in an interview, or would it not have mattered a jot, with the midfielder wanting to jump ship a long time ago?
Indeed, it’s a surprise to many of us that Charles Insomnia, sorry N’Zogbia, has stuck around at St James’ Park for so long. The Frenchman seems to have been trying to engineer a move away from Tyneside for some time now, linking himself to Spurs and Arsenal, despite the North London clubs not showing much in the way of interest. Now Setanta report that Wigan are taking a punt on this clearly talented player who needs a fresh start the way a fish needs water.
N’Zogbia vowed to never play for The Magpies again after Kinnear referred to him as Charles ‘Insomnia’ following their midweek defeat to Manchester City.
Kinnear excused his faux-pas as a slip of the tongue and accused the player of trying to engineer a move away from St James Park.
N’Zogbia’s £6.5 million transfer is thought to involve Wigan’s Ryan Taylor moving in the opposite direction.
Not a bad bit of business for Newcastle, especially if Taylor scores as prolifically for United as he did when playing against them. The ex-Tranmere full back is arguably on a par with N’Zogbia, although Steve Bruce has done well recruiting players for cut-price deals before flogging them for vastly more than he paid for them. Are Magpies fans glad to see the back of a player who clearly didn’t want to be at the club?