Newcastle United will make forgotten midfielder Henri Saivet available for transfer this summer, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the club will look to offload the 28-year-old, who still has 24 months remaining on his current Magpies contract.
Manager Rafael Benitez has long since decided that the Frenchman isn’t his cup of tea, and he spend this season on loan with Turkish side Bursaspor.
If the Magpies can’t sell Saivet, who is on a reported £35,000-per-week [Source: Spotrac], then they will be forced to grant him another loan spell away from Tyneside, but either way he’s unlikely to be wearing a black and white shirt next term.
OPINION
If you’d forgotten that Saivet plays for Newcastle then you’d be forgiven. The former Bordeaux man was part of a clutch of Ligue 1 recruits who joined the club under Graham Carr’s watch, but he never made anything like the impact that was expected of him at St James’ Park. He’s now had three loan spells away from the Magpies, and it’s clear that he’s simply never going to make the grade in the north east – at least while Benitez is in charge. Perhaps Saivet’s only chance of rescuing his Newcastle career is if the Spaniard leaves the club this summer, but that’s not what any supporter will be hoping for. Saivet isn’t the worst player in the world, but it’s simply not happened for him in England. He’s not good enough to be a Premier League regular and so he needs to be moved on as soon as possible. The problem is that he was given such a ludicrously long contract when he signed, so he’s not out of contract for a while yet. Hopefully the club can offload him permanently this summer, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
