Bournemouth reporter Ned Payne has denied claims that Newcastle are set to swap Matt Ritchie for Joshua King, describing the rumours as ‘wide of the mark’.
This comes after the Sun’s Alan Nixon claimed over the weekend that Newcastle were in talks with Bournemouth over a potential part-exchange involving NUFC winger Matt Ritchie and Cherries striker Josh King.
Reports #afcb are ready to swap Joshua King for #nufc's Matt Ritchie plus cash are understood to be #wideofthemark
— Ned Payne (@nedpayne_echo) June 25, 2018
This comes as no surprise in many ways. Yes we do need a striker and King is someone Benitez is believed to be a fan of, but it never seemed likely.
For one, part-exchange deals are so uncommon and rarely work that way and it also seemed so unlikely that Benitez would sell Matt Ritchie – a player who’s been an integral part of Rafa’s plans for two seasons now.
With this coming from the Sun’s Alan Nixon on Sunday, I doubt too many thought it carried any truth, however it’s good to have this bizarre rumour cleared up from both the Bournemouth and Newcastle end (see update from the Chronicle’s Chris Waugh below).
Getting down to basics, why would we be interested in someone that Bournemouth can afford to lose?
I can see us minesweeping at Chelsea, Man City, Man U maybe. Or even Liverpool.
And doing a vulture run on the likes of Swansea , Stoke and West Brom.
But Bournemouth?
Brrrian(Quote)
You’re Newcastle, not one of the top teams. You finished on the same points as us. What makes you think you’re any better than the Cherries?. It’s like saying Shelvey is better than Cook or that Lascelles is better than Ake. There will be players in your team better than ours and visa-versa. Ritchie took a step down when he went to Newcastle. The clubs are now on a par. Will be interesting to see how they par this season. Ritchie is class and probably sees an opportunity in coming back to Dean Court or senses something untoward developing at Newcastle.
Aitch(Quote)