There’s been plenty Newcastle United ‘stars’ who’ve sealed early exits and soon realised that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, however the same cannot be said about Gini Wijnaldum and Florian Thauvin.
The former NUFC pair will both take part in European finals later this month, with Wijnaldum’s Liverpool set to face Real Madrid in the Champions League final and Marseille’s Florian Thauvin being set to face Atletico Madrid in Europa League final.
The pair had contrasting careers at St James’ Park, but both share common ground in that their time on Tyneside was particularly short-lived.
Wijnaldum may have been part of the side that saw us relegated in 2016, however he was one of the last players you could blame, being our top scorer with 11 goals on his debut season in England. He developed a habit of going missing during away games, but his stunning form at St James’ Park made up for that.
Thauvin was signed in the same summer window as Wijnaldum (2015), but he didn’t have anywhere near the same impact – something that will leave some NUFC fans bemused given he’s gone on to bag 24 goals and 17 goals for Marseille this season.
He scored just once in a black and white shirt and, in all honesty, he never looked like he wanted to be here.
"The grass isn't always greener on the other side"…
It has been for these two!
Both #LFC's Gini Wijnaldum & #OM's Florian Thauvin will play in the Champions League & Europa League finals in a few weeks time! ? #NUFC pic.twitter.com/b0Pq18gktz
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) May 3, 2018
A few years on from £25m and £9.5m moves away and they are two of very few former Mags who can say their big moves away have been a success.
It didn’t work for the likes of Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Mathieu Debuchy, but sometimes the grass is greener on the other side.
