Double money for Demba?

Pulling out the stops for Ba
Newcastle United are willing to double Demba Ba’s wages in an effort to ward off interest in the striker, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.

The Mirror claims that the Senegal international is on a £30,000 a week wage which which is roughly in the same ballpark as what a lot of journalists seem to believe he is on. Personally I’ve heard that Demba is on £35,000 a week basic with a bonus of around £20,000 for each first team appearance but then I guess none of us know for sure.

Newcastle are hoping that the guaranteed wage increase will tempt Ba to sign a new contract – a new contract which will have the much talked about release clause removed from his contract. It’s the only way we’re going to get to keep Ba in the long run so it needs doing in my view.

Strikers who can hit the back of the net regularly are rare and we have one of them in Demba. We picked him up for nothing and run the risk of losing him for next to nothing if this release clause is actually contained in his contract. Wouldn’t it make sense for Ashley to protect his investment and prohibit himself and the club from losing out in the future by paying Ba a decent rate now? I think so…

Ba is happy on Tyneside and appears to be settled into life at Newcastle. He appears happy but let’s not underestimate how much a whopping great payrise can sway your decision. I have no doubt that Ba could be just as happy somewhere else so the only way to stop the Senegal international from casting curious eyes elsewhere is to give him a wage that is comparable with what other clubs can offer.

I’m not talking Manchester City type wages when I say that, but there does need to be some room for manoeuvre in our wage budget if we are to keep hold of our better players long term. By giving Ba a payrise it also gives Ashley and Newcastle some cards to hold in the transfer market so it wouldn’t be just a one way street.

Surely that appeals to Ashley and Co?

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.

67 thoughts on “Double money for Demba?

  1. Just been reading yesterdays ‘do we prepere for ba to leave’ article’s comments.

    Jesus. Let’s take a ‘Kalms’. Wor lass has some in the bathroom cabinet, I’ll go get some.

    As I said yesterday… we can only assume what’s going to happen and I ‘assume’ ashley has currently got the club in a transitional period until we have the right mix.

    We can’t expect instant results as a business and club. Time can only tell – let’s have a few seasons in the premiership (notice i said ‘premiership’ and not ‘EPL’. Get’s on my tits that.) first.

    Our first Season back –

    12th (almost 9th but the lads thought we had it wrapped up and became complacent) but we would have ripped an arm off for 12th at the beginning of the season, Christ, I would have ripped an arm off for 17th.

    This Season

    Currently 7th and pushing for a Europe spot and definately ‘Best of the rest’.

    Now unless a monumental fudge up happens i can’t see us difting too far down the table (infact I’m looking up the table, not down). So we’re sitting in the slowly but surely bracket that the club had set out when we first came back up.

    Howay canny lads and lasses. Doesn’t that mean we’re going according to plan?

    Loads of players will come in and out of the club before we hit top spot. 😉

    Hopefully we’ll get a cup on the way! 😎

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  2. It would be typical though if we raised his pay and next season he is constantly injured or just had a great season this year. But we need to protect our team its not like we have another striker a couple of goals behind him.

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  3. From what I heard from someone on another blog, he said he knew for a fact that Ba was on £35k/wk wages & abonus of £25k which would make it £60k/wk wages if he played…. so if we double his £35k/wk wages, would Ashley want to drop the bonus of £25k as weel, because he’d be on £70k/wk wages before any bonuses???

    Also, if we did double his wages to £70k/wk, that would knock floppygob Redknapp off his perch because that the Wage cap for the Spurts & they’re struggling to break that to keep Modric at the club, so that one less club to worry about!!!

    To be honest, I doubt this ‘Daily Mail’ story is true, I can’t see Ashley offering any player that sort of money, not unless he’s using the Sponsorship money we’ve just gotten from Virgin!!!

    On the other hand, thinking about it, this could be why the Maiga deal fell thru, well they said we’re not bringing in another striker now, could that be because Ashley decided it was either a new striker or a new contract for Ba due to how well he’s been playing 😕 😕

    Personally I’d rather keep Ba than bring in another striker now, the guy is shyte hot & scoring for fun in a league where some International prolific striker struggle to find the net at all… so yes, ditch the idea of another striker & give what wages we were gonna spend on one to Demba now!!! 😉

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  4. I’m hoping/praying that the reason the club is keeping quite, is because they are hammering out a new deal with him. Smudger is off the wage book in the summer so half his salary added to Demba’s current deal would probably blow Spurs out of the water as Toon 69 says, come on Ashley, you know it makes sense :mrgreen:

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  5. At the end of the day no one knows what’s what regarding a release clause. However the guy cannot pass a medical and his knee is a ticking time bomb according to some. Giving the lad mega bucks to ensure he stays is a huge risk as is paying millions to secure his services as I would imagine it would be impossible to get insurance on him for a career ending injury to his knee. Anyone interested in him is going to have a difficult time securing his services because of this, so let’s not panic eh, not yet anyway 😉

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  6. Nobby your right lad some bloggers need a few kalms 😉
    Magpie4ever a few good points made mate. I just think if as it seems like that he would take a move to PSG, it wont matter what type of deal you give him he will be off, when they come calling.
    Though if his wages are around the figures mentioned I think a pay rise would be a good thing to show him how important he is to the team.
    It’s clear without him we would probably be scrapping down near the bottom.

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  7. I’m not talking Manchester City type wages when I say that, but there does need to be some room for manoeuvre in our wage budget if we are to keep hold of our better players long term.

    Exactly my point all along. . . If you check my posts from years ago I’ve stated there has to be room for manoeuvre when a quality player comes along.
    I do recall getting stick for it as many said you have to have a set limit.

    Fabragas was on more than any other player at Arsenal because he was their best player.

    I see nothing wrong in having the vast majority on for example, £50k or less, but individuals like Ba on £80k.

    That is the only way to retain and build.

    Let’s see what Jabba does. 😯

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  8. Troy I think when the player in question is the main man scoring the goals to keep us where we are, then he is worth a lot more than the rest and I don’t think it would cause any unrest in the team, the most important man should be paid the best.
    By the way did you see TP lost the debate lastnight when he had to resort to childish namecalling and abuse ?

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  9. Troy that’s why I’ve always said there is not a salary cap for individual players, but an annual budget for the squad.

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  10. The captains on more than the wage cap which tells me the supposed wage cap dont really exist

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  11. @BD

    I’ve just read over it and left him a post.

    He really does struggle. 😛

    Bless him. 😆

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  12. @TC

    Good morning. Do you wish to discuss the issues from yesterday? If so the same thread is open.

    You may have to do it without Poopsy who’s hiding in his shoe box. 😛

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  13. Premandup – Yeah an annual budget for the squad, but if you pay our top players wages like Troy is suggesting, you can’t moan & say that the squad is paper thin, because the club will only have a set amount each year & if you increase some players wages to 80k/wk, then you’ve either got to reduce the amount of players or pay less to others in the squad…

    Personally I think there should be wage cap, Spurts have had one for years & got by ok, so why shouldn’t we have one, yeah maybe 50k/wk is a little lower than most club but I think you’ll find that not many have 80k/wk either…

    Maybe they should have a wage range for each posistion ie Goalie 10k-20k, Defender 20k-45k, Midfield 30k-50k, Striker 40k-60k…. then give bonuses on top of these wages, who know, I’ve no idea how much of the clubs annual revenue is set aside for players wages, only those in the club would know this!! 😉

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  14. @toon69

    So your limit for a striker is £60k?

    So if Ba asks for £65k and Spuds offer it, then we’ve lost him.

    Is that a good policy?

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  15. I don’t know if Timmy Krul will be happy with a 4th choice striker getting double what he gets 😉

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  16. @Richie

    It’s not about giving every striker that amount.

    Ba is clearly worth keeping hold of and I agree in principle with Toon69 in that you have to have a budget. But for me and I only say this with strikers, the lower end of the wage structure would have to suffer for the sake of a deadly
    striker.

    Spread out over the whole budget , an individuals wage increase would not have a big
    impact.

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  17. Troy…I was referring to TA69’s wage range…..and being flippant…soz 😳

    Ba’s worth to the team is more than what a hefty payrise would cost imo, just give him it…pleeaasssse :mrgreen:

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  18. Troy – So you think that its only striker who should get high wages 😕

    What about players like Tiote, Cabaye, HBA, Colo etc etc… don’t they deserve to be paid decent wages for the job they do, because without them, players like Ba don’t get the service & can’t score….. so if thats the case, why would you pay him any higher than say Cabye, Jonas, etc etc… 😕

    Btw, the value’s I put were examples, as I said, it all depends on the revenue the club gets & what is set aside for wages… but imo I don’t think anyone should get more than 60k/wk, you can always top that up with goals scored bonus, assists, etc etc.. if you wanted too 😉

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  19. GOOD AND BAD NEWS BOYS. 

    Listening to Talksport at the moment. A French Correspondent Phillipe Eclaire is on now and talking about Demba Ba. 

    Bad news;

    He is saying that he knows Ba’s entourage well and they have a definite plan this summer. 

    Ba will be staying at the Toon until the summer and will be looking for a big move. 

    The Good News;

    He claims the clause is not as clear cut as people are saying. There’s more to it. 

    That’s all he would say.  😯

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  20. If we want to qaulify for europe try to win a cup and try for a top six finish then imo as well as improving the squad it is very important that we keep our “GAME WINNERS” Ba Colo Cabaye Tiote Krul and it is simple that to do this we will have to pay the going rate , as much as we would love players to stay for the pride or fall in love with the area this is not going to happen so as fans what do we want !
    I want more investment in the first team and to keep those players by giving them the going rate for qaulity players but in my opinion it will be to good to turn down for Ashley when big offers come in for these players .

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  21. @Toon69

    No. Despite the importance of players like Colo and Tiote, there is a budget and depending in the size of the budget, if they want too much they can’t have it.

    My point is that, of course there is a limit. There has to be. But I’ve always maintained that a quality striker is by far the most important player on the pitch. An allowance should be made for that IMO.

    Other positions are easier replaced. Strikers of Ba’s quality are sought worldwide. We’ve got him, let’s try and keep him unless an unbelievable offer comes in.

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  22. For me Ba is worth so much more than carroll and all our other players. Lets be honest…..would we be as good a team if we did not have Ba? He raises others games and enables them to play the way they can due to him scoring all the goals in turn taking the pressure off the team.

    Interestingly i heard a that newcastle will sign two players this window with only fringe players possibly leaving

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  23. It’s a problem this wage issue for sure, whilst i agree we should maybe pay a higher wage to a guy who’s banging them in for fun and helping us climb the table this may be foolhardy. The problem you have is what about the wingers supplying great crosses for him or the keeper blocking great shots or defenders and midfielders breaking up dangerous passages of play.You see the point is no man is an island it’s a team game ,surely Carroll taught us that much. Who’s to say if he went elseware he wouldn’t be as effective for them ,maybe we play to his strengths.Just a thought it may be he’d be fab where ever he went who knows.

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  24. Kimtoon the fact is 90% of players would prefer to be strikers why ?
    Is it because they are the most important players that get all the glory ?
    Catch you’s in a bit

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  25. KimT….The difference is though, Ba has done it at other teams and for a few years, Judas hasn’t and looks like he’s somewhere he really doesn’t want to be 😉

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  26. Assuming Troy’s talksport source is right there is no need to panic . Sort it out before summer.

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  27. Troy

    Phillipe Eclaire? Was his father’s name Chocolate? 😯 😆 😆

    Auclair just reiterates what I said yesterday… There was never any chance of Ba leaving this transfer window.
    And I bet if we qualify for Europe, that would keep him here because he probably has a release clause which allows him to leave if we arn’t in Europe…

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  28. From the Chronicle, so large pinch of salt required…

    Combined with agent fees and insurance cover, it is thought that the overall package to land Ba would come in at a total price of over £20million, in what sources close to the player predicted to be a “very complex deal” 😯

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  29. So lads, Here is a poser for you , and remember i’m only playing devil’s advocate here. Who would you rather lose if you had no choice AND WHY ,Ba, Krull ,Cabaye or Tiote ?.

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  30. Richie,
    Most things I do are beneath me… just ask your misses :lol:, I guess, I was just too quick again… 😉

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  31. lee_ryder Lee Ryder
    NOT ONE BID FOR BA – #NUFC Latest News – Newcastle United from @EveningChron chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-unit… via @AddThis
    45 minutes ago

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  32. Looks like we might be after a striker after all.
    MsiDouglas Mark Douglas
    #nufc definitely looking at strikers as well as centre halves this window. Agents briefed to that effect last week. Under 26 w/ potential
    15 minutes ago
    »

    schizoid007 John Lacey
    #nufc Rumours going around that toon may go back in for Erding of PSG on loan deal initially after being unused sub for new boss Ancelotti

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  33. Kim Toon

    Definately from that bunch, Tiote, reason not being his skill or talent or importance to the team. But rather the position he plays, I think the amount we’d get for him and the amount of similar players there are to him, he’d be the most easily replaceable.
    Having said that, to lose anyone one of Krul, Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye, or Ba I’d be devastated… They could walk into any of the top four teams in my opinion.
    If the likes of Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor and Santon continue to improve as they have, I’d come close to saying the same about them…

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  34. JJ…. 😆 not really because I added “just like your lass” but deleted it cos it was beneath me, just like….. 😆

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  35. I honestly believe, if we kept the current squad, tossed Ameobi, Best and Smith and brought in the likes of Mevlut Erdinc, Eric Pieters, Nedum Onuoha Junior Hoilett and say Jordan Rhodes, we would be fighting for a Champions League place. Five players with three going out.
    Ahead of Liverpool and Arsenal.
    It’d probably cost around 35mil to get those players here… Hmmm, where could we find 35mil from???

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  36. KimT….ditto with what JJ says@48 and I’ll add because Ba has won games on his own as has Krul, I have Cabaye on my Toon top so that leaves Tiote 🙁 😉

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  37. Richie, she’s seven months pregnant, so if you going to do it that way with your girth, you better not hurt the baby! 😆

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  38. JJ…aye, not long to go…remember though, just because it’ll come out bald and wrinkly, doesn’t mean it’s mine 😉 😆

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  39. “JJ….”tossed Ameobi” 😯 ….I fekn knew you liked him really :mrgreen:”

    Really Richie, joke about Ameobi’s c@#k???

    Surely that is beneath you?! 😳 😆

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  40. Richie, now that was a low blow…

    But… you’re used to going low to give blows now arn’t you. 😕 😈

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  41. Toonsy – I get where you’re coming from, I really do, but it smacks of desperation.
    Say we double his money to as much as 60-70k a week – even 80k, it achieves nothing! because Liverpool, Man Utd, PSG or whoever will come in and offer 100k plus, and Champions League football.
    Even if he signs a new contract, if he continues to score goals, other clubs will come in for him and if he wants to leave he will.
    I want him to stay, of course I do, and it’s good to hear him say that he still has a job to do for us.
    I would probably agree that he has done enough to earn a new and improved deal – as we did with Tiote. But that’s a reward for good performance, not through fear of loosing him, and any new deal should be set salary with large bonuses for appearances, goals scored and assists, rather than just a large salary and no incentive to continue turning out the kind of performance we’ve come to expect

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  42. I don’t see any problem with giving Demba Ba a wage rise up to the wage ceiling the club has but we don;t want to be held to ransom though.
    Not to say Ba will do that….I’m just saying that we can’t become known to back down all the time and raising wages because it can set a trend and in time, you find that other players will play the same game.

    Personally , I think Ba is happy here and knows he won’t get the adulation anywhere else and also there’s no guarantee that he will be a hit anywhere else.

    I’m all for bringing him into line with our best paid players but I don’t think we should go over that.

    As Sharpy said, even if we offered him 100 grand a week, some other club could easily come in and offer him 120 grand or whatever so in reality it’s not gonna make much difference if Ba decided he wanted to move on, which I don;t believe for one minute he does.

    I’m not worried by any speculation regarding our players ,I’d rather wait till anything becomes official. 😀

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  43. I agree with you Tooney It would be crazy if we raised his pay for next season he is constantly injured or just had a great season this year…lets give him a chance

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