Newcastle United have suffered a blow with the news that transfer target Jordon Ibe doesn’t want to move to the north of England, according to The Northern Echo.
The newspaper claims that the 23-year-old is reluctant to make the move up north, putting a damper on speculation he could be headed to St James’ Park.
The Sun reported last week that Steve Bruce’s side are interested in bringing the former Liverpool man to Tyneside, but it doesn’t seem as if the player is as keen.
The London-born winger is currently slated to stay at The Vitality Stadium, although a deadline day exit cannot be ruled out if a suitable location can be determined.
OPINION
Whether you perceive this as a blow to Newcastle or not probably depends on your opinion of Ibe as a player. However, if it’s true that he is a target for Bruce and co., then this certainly qualifies as a dent to their transfer plans. We forget sometimes that players are just people, and things like location and proximity to friends and family matters to them, and it appears that that is what is coming into play for Ibe, here. When you’re born in London and are currently playing on the south coast, it’s quite the sea change to make the move all the way to the north east, particularly like with Ibe where his time in the north west with Liverpool didn’t quite work out. He’s failed to make the progress expected of him after his move to Eddie Howe’s team, that’s indisputable, so Newcastle signing the youngster would have been a serious gamble anyway. Either way, it appears he won’t be heading anywhere too far north.
