Maiga set for NUFC medical

Maiga deal a step closer?
Modibo Maiga is set to undergo a medical today ahead of a proposed January move to Newcastle.

The link between Maiga and Newcastle has been ongoing since the summer, but if the rumour that he is set to undergo a medical in London today is true it will signal our first breakthrough of the January transfer market.

Of course Maiga has to pass the medical, but given the fact that he has been used sparingly by Sochaux and doesn’t have a history of injury problems then I can’t see anything going wrong with what is a routine part of a transfer. Mind you, famous last words and all that…

The deal is expected to be for a fee in the region of £6-7m and should be announced at the start of the transfer would should everything go well today. Personally it seems strange that they are doing a medical now but then again who really knows what goes on behind the scenes? However it has kind of got to the point now where I’d be surprised if we didn’t conclude a deal for Maiga.

So, what can we expect of Modibo Maiga? Well first of all I suggest you read Dan4Toon’s excellent evaluation of him here. Secondly we can expect him to be away at the African Cup of Nations with Mali, but when he returns we can expect something else – pace!

Like many of you, I’ve actually been keeping an eye on him ever since we’ve been linked. It’s funny how a bit of transfer interest, or a lot of transfer interest in this instance, can make you watch a player. Whilst I’m still not completely sold on him I will concede that he has pace and strength plus an ability to play in a number of positions, namely up front and on the wing.

To me that is good news. As nufc_stats is going to highlight later, our wing play isn’t the best and having a player who can operate out wide AND up front will go some way to rectifying that in my mind. How? Simple really… The best crosser of the ball I’ve seen was Alan Shearer, in fact a lot of strikers have a decent cross on them. Why? Because they know where they would like that ball themselves so put it into that danger area!

Of course the bonus of getting this deal over the line at the earliest opportunity is the fact that it allows the club more time to get other players in, although if we’re going by the official club line we can only expect one other player in who is expected to be a defender. With interest in Erik Pieters still bubbling away perhaps we’ll revisit a deal for the Dutch international?

As ever, time will tell…

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

48 thoughts on “Maiga set for NUFC medical

  1. good news this – looks an exciting player – 19 goals in 41 games for Sochaux according to wiki – looking forward to seeing him in a Toon shirt

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  2. AoD, he used to be a winger for most of his career that’s why his goal scoring record wasn’t so good up until the last few year.

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  3. So is this gadgie a replacement for Obertan on the right wing or will he play up front with Ba/Best 😕

    It sounds to me as if he’s more suited as a No10 player than a replacement for Carroll, which some thing still hasn’t been replaced yet… as for his stats, he’s not exactly a prolific goal scorer but if he can weigh in with a dozen goals a session, then we should have quite a decent set of goal scorers on our books… just need to get rid of the dead wood ie Strola & Loverman.. 😆

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  4. Toon69
    December 13, 2011 at 10:13

    “It sounds to me as if he’s more suited as a No10 player than a replacement for Carroll, which some thing still hasn’t been replaced yet”

    Just a thought….. But how about that Senegalese lad who has outscored Carroll being a replacement for Carroll? 😕 😉

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  5. Well, as long as he doesn’t mind playing on the right instead of bloody Obertan…Up front would be strange as Ba is a clear starter, I wouldn’t have dropped Best along with the strong competition with bambi/arfa

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  6. Toon 69 – Carroll hasn’t been replaced yet? Eh!? What do you call Ba then?

    Or would you prefer we brought in another overweight, goal shy, beer swilling, gypsy lout like the one that left??

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  7. “Just a thought….. But how about that Senegalese lad who has outscored Carroll being a replacement for Carroll?”….. 😉

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  8. Toonsy…I said it at the time and was shot down, maybe I’m old fashioned but if you get rid of a striker then bring one in, isn’t the one brought in the replacement? 😕

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  9. i think everyone got their hopes up at the time we sold carroll think we were going to spend on a big name striker… give me a free one who can bang in goals over a £35m and £50m waste of space.

    How many goals have torres and carroll got since january? now divide £85m by that number. Just a guess but it most be about 8-10m per goal… 😉

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  10. if they’re doing the medical quick we must be confirming the sale as soon as the transfer window opens! 😛

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  11. Nobby……Torres is the puzzler for me because he is/was proven quality, AC is potential quality so may come good yet(hopefully not though :mrgreen: )

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  12. Rich – The only thing I can think of about doing the medical today is that Sochaux have a lot riding on it.

    They’ll want to replace Maiga with our money so they may have a deal that hinges on getting that money and by not playing him it safeguards against us pulling out in event of injury.

    Mind you we wouldn’t let an injury out us off. Instead Fatman and Throbbin will turn up in the back of a Transit van all balaclava’d up with crowbars trying to beat the deal down a bit 😈

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  13. Excuse me, but did I say “some think he’s not been replaced” 😕 I’m one of the very few who from the start of this season said that we should give Best & Ba the chance to prove themselves, which they have done… but there are some out there who still ‘think’ that Carroll hasn’t been replaced & that Modibo will be that replacement…. 😡

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  14. Think what some are still going on about is the fact that they’ve still not seen a 35 million quid player signed….personally I think it’s time we put that particular broken record in the waste bin and start playing another one!

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  15. T69 – Personally I wasn’t on about you. I was referring in general and it was your comment which struck the chord 🙂

    Joe Soap – Which broken record shall we have? I have a few in the disco box.

    – Where is the ambition
    – Where is the money
    – Ashley is lining his pockets at our expense

    🙂

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  16. Demba ba is the main scorer we just need maiga 2 chip in a bit more than best has and we will be alreet up top, now to sort a defender or 2 !!

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  17. Not a great scoring record. There must be something decent about him tho. Still what do you expect for 7 million. I think there is better we could of bought but we got involved with this guy and seem stuck with him now.
    Hope he proves me wrong.

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  18. Ba is about as similar a player to Carroll as you get, just without the attitude and baggage. So ye I’d say we did a decent job replacing Carroll.
    He perhaps has a bit less presence and a bit more skill…

    As for Maiga, I hope he is like a Bellemy type player, who has workrate and pace, someone who can play up front in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation.

    What we really need to strengthen though is our defence, where we are very short in quality of depth.

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  19. Also, with regard to goal scoring…

    Look at Bellemy, his goal scoring record wasn’t that great at all, but he caused havoc every time he was on the field.
    Would rather have a player like that than a lazy poacher like MO in Toon colours that scores and offers nothing else.

    What matters is that the team improves, not an individuals statistics.

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  20. Toon69

    What more do you want Ba to do to prove himself? Do you only think in terms of transfer fees!!!

    Just winding you up fella 😉

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  21. he’s a replacement for Loverman – who’ll go in the window.
    i also think that best may leave in the summer – its a shame – i know he’s been injured but i feel that he deserves a shout.

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  22. JJ – T69 is part of the “penny watcher” brigade. He has a countdown clock on his wall set at £35m 😆

    Just kidding 🙂

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  23. Personally, I think people need to move on, yeah shyte happened at the club in the last 4yr under Ashley but shyte happened under FFS & Hall for many years before him & I dont recall many banging on about it now…..

    Anyway, If this guy passes his medical, then we’ll have 2 very similar players in him & Ba, (both going to the ACoN) which will be good, as long as we use them accordingly & not have them both doing the same job on the pitch… Modibo can play down the right, which will allow Bestie or HBA to play up top with Ba or Ba can sit back & let Modibo play up from with Bestie etc etc…. we’ll hav room to change the formation to fit the team we’re playing instead of playing the same tactics every game… 😉

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  24. Sy & JJ – gtf 😆

    I’d love you to find a post where i’ve penny pinched or given a flying fart as to how much the Toon have spent over the summer,…. I’m not on that band wagon fella’s, I’m more concerned that we get a great squad over individual star names, no matter how much they cost us… 😉

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  25. Anyone seen the Journal today? Says a source close to Tiote saying he doesnt want to leave. Notr sure if its a good or a bad statement 😕 wont let me post a link!

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  26. Sorted JT 🙂

    Two things.

    1 – I never ever put any credence in “sources close to a player”. I remember a source at the weekend claiming Tiote had been to see a witchdoctor, complete with leafy head-dress 😯

    2 – If he really doesn’t want to leave then he won’t.

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  27. Glad the Maiga deal seems to be close so we can move onto defensive targets!

    Too much to ask for Onouha and Taiwo on loan too? Probably 😆

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  28. Tiote going to see a witch doctor was probably a load of mumbo – jumbo.

    Glad he might be back for the Swansea game though.

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  29. “Toon69
    December 13, 2011 at 11:01

    Sy & JJ – gtf 😆

    I’d love you to find a post where i’ve penny pinched or given a flying fart as to how much the Toon have spent over the summer,…. I’m not on that band wagon fella’s, I’m more concerned that we get a great squad over individual star names, no matter how much they cost us… 😉 ”

    So basically you are saying you won’t be happy until you get a 35mil pound star signing replacement… *sigh, I give up with you 🙁

    😉 😉 😉 😆 😆 😆

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  30. Maiga will brings pace, skill, and directness to our play. Like i mentioned in a previous post, I think Pardew never planned to play a 4-4-2 in the first place. Instead, the signing of Maiga could signal the tweaking in formation with Maiga and Benny behind Ba while Cabaye Tiote and probably Jonas pulling the strings in midfield. Our pace in counter attack will be frightening the hell out of the opponents 😯

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  31. But what about all that missing money , dnt want superstars what about 35 players for one million each . Or one plyer for 1 million and 34 mill on agent fees 😐

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