Signing new players is always something of a risk, but this level of risk is increased when a player has a chequered past in terms of injuries and a lack of fitness. In the last 18 months Newcastle United have singed Dan Gosling, who was injured when he put to paper, and this so far hasn’t paid off, despite him costing no fee upfront and scoring his first goal yesterday. At the other end of the scale is Demba Ba, who was infamously turned down by Stoke due to the results of his medical, yet he has been a revelation for Newcastle. However, one risk that looks like backfiring for the Magpies is the signature of Sylvain Marveaux.
Marveaux arrived at Newcastle with much written about his injury problems. The 25-year-old Frenchman had not played for Rennes for six months due to a groin problem and his debut for Newcastle was also delayed by this injury. In fact it there was more than a year between Marveaux’s last appearance in Ligue 1 and his Premier League debut. Now the Frenchman has been hit by another injury setback in the groin area and serious questions will be asked about his ability to stay fit and whether he’ll ever shake off his injury-prone tag.
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Sylvain Marveaux will not play again for the Magpies this year and is unlikely to pull on the Newcastle shirt until February 2012 at the earliest. The winger has travelled to America to have surgery under the watchful eye of the world renowned Dr Marc Phillipon. Let’s be optimistic and hope that he’ll make a full recovery, but even he must have some negative thoughts in the back of his head after failing to manage an hour of action in his home debut against Everton at St James’ Park.
The warning signs were there for Newcastle as well. Although we don’t know the details, a move to Liverpool broke down for Marveaux and while the Frenchman insists there were no issues in regards to his medical, the transfer didn’t go ahead for one reason or another. His history of injury problems isn’t particularly encouraging as prior to his extended period on the side lines last season, Marveaux also missed a large portion of the 2008/09 season due to a torn hamstring, which was complicated by a hematoma.
From the little we’ve seen of Marveaux, he looks like a tidy player and let’s hope we haven’t seen the last of him either. However, at this moment in time this seems like one risk that hasn’t paid off for Newcastle, but with a player of Marveaux’s quality available on a free transfer, can you blame the Magpies for taking the gamble that they did?
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You could definitely see your skills in the paintings you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.