Steve Bruce has admitted he would’ve tried to keep Mo Diame at Newcastle had he arrived at the club earlier this summer.
The Senegalese midfielder ended up completing a move to Qatar after his contract expired in late June, but it seems Steve Bruce would’ve been very keen to keep him on Tyneside had he been given half the chance.
Here’s what he’s had to say about big Mo – someone he describes as a ‘very, very good player’ who he enjoyed working with during his time at Hull:
“I enjoyed working with Mo Diame,”
“He was excellent for me and I believe he was excellent here. A very, very good player.
“But it was done and dusted before I came here.
“Certainly had I been here I would have tried to keep him.
“He’s a good player.”
It’s easy to say now, but I was always keen for us to hand Diame a new deal to keep him at the club another season or two.
Yes he was getting on and there were signs his best days were behind him, but he was a strong character, had invaluable Premier League experience and moulded himself into a solid and tough tackling defensive midfielder – something we have very few of.
With Isaac Hayden now set to miss our next 3 games after that reckless red card at Leicester, how we could use someone like Diame to plug the gap..
