David Sullivan - Does he really know the details of Ba's NUFC deal?

What is it with people in London? A place where it's easy to get consumed with everything around you, yet there are a few who seem to be overly concerned with a football club that is some 280 miles away.

First off we had Harry Redknapp gushing details of an alleged clause in the contract of Demba Ba to all and sundry, and now we have West Ham United co-owner doing much the same with regard to his former player.

Redknapp was quoted as saying that Ba has a release clause in his contract allowing him to walk away from Newcastle for a sum of £7m. David Sullivan has reiterated that figure and divulged a bit more information by suggesting that Ba himself could be entitled 50% of any transfer fee over £7m.

The West Ham supremo spoke candidly to Hammers fansite 'West Ham Till I Die' where he went through a serious of figures regarding the deal between Ba and West Ham. As a Newcastle fan I don't really care about that, but when it comes to NUFC, which I do care about, Sullivan said:

“I’m told he’s got a £7 million get-out at Newcastle and he gets half the money over that. They keep denying it but I think you’ll see in the summer – He will leave Newcastle or he’ll get a monstrous rise to stay there."

"If they get about four million, half will go to him, so if they sell him for £7 million they’ll only net about three because they paid his agent £2 million to get him out of here. Getting £3 million is not bad, but for a player of his quality it’s not fantastic.”

Well that last line is stating the obvious isn't it?

On a serious note, to me it read as though Ba will get 50% of anything OVER £7m although I could be wrong on that one of course.

Does the Porn Baron really know the details though? I mean he is going to know about the happening at his end of things, but is he really privvy to the nuts and bolts of any deal between Ba and NUFC? I seriously can't see why he would be.

I have little doubt that Ba does indeed have a release clause. In this instance the silence from the club has been deafening which is odd when you consider how quickly they like to come out and deny things. On the clause though, not a word, which to me indicates that there is one.

The only way this kind of chatter will get sorted is in the summer as we'll know one way or another exactly what is going on. Will Newcastle give Ba another contract with terms not as "flexible" as they are now? Or will Ba exploit the clause in his contract and head for pastures new?

I very much doubt that Mike Ashley would be prepared to lose out by selling Ba on the cheap, and £7m would be on the cheap, but on the other hand logic sometimes goes out of the window with this regime so I guess the rumours and murmurs from other clubs will continue.

I just wish they would poke their nose out of our business!