da casino： The name Joey Barton is synonymous with controversy and trouble and you can normally expect a trail of unsavoury incidents to be linked to his name. After he signed for Newcastle in 2007 he spent time in prison as a result of fight in Liverpool. Soon after his release he served a Premier League suspension for his fight with former Manchester City team mate Ousmane Dabo. Not the ideal start to his career at a new club! After parting with £5.8 million pounds to bring the Liverpudlian to the North East the Newcastle fans weren’t seeing much of Barton on the pitch. Furthermore, Barton spent the majority of Newcastle’s Championship campaign sidelined with an injury. However this season he has finally started to produce the football he is capable of for the Toon Army.
da betobet： Barton has one year remaining on his contract and has been linked with a move away from St James’ Park. So is it time for Newcastle to cash in on their unpredictable midfielder to avoid him leaving on a free next summer, or is he worth fighting for? For me it is simple, of course he is worth fighting for, Newcastle should be doing everything in their power to ensure he pens a new deal.
Barton has unquestionably been one of Newcastle’s stand out performers this campaign and with his misdemeanours in the past, the Newcastle fans won’t want to see the back of him. Although, with no immediate signs of Barton looking to sign a new contract, the club could decide the best option is to sell the player this summer. Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has been touted as the man chasing Barton’s services and Barton himself could be tempted by a return to his hometown. It’s widely believed Barton’s reluctance to sign a new deal with Newcastle is because he doesn’t want to commit to the club if Newcastle are going to sell key players in the summer.
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Barton was quoted in the Mirror earlier this month talking about his future, “I told them I might stay this summer because we have some good players and money to spend. But I’m going to wait and see if players like Kevin Nolan, Cheik Tiote and Jose Enrique stay.” With Kevin Nolan on the verge of extending his stay at St James Park, it will go someway to allaying Barton’s fears surrounding the sale of key players. Barton went on to say, “If Nolan signs a new deal, I will as well. But I hope the club step things up. I want to be ambitious and I think the club share that desire.” If Barton will be true to his word or not is open to debate, but I don’t see any value in selling the player this summer for £5 million if the club can demonstrate their ambition to him.
Newcastle have a year to convince Barton that signing a new contract is the right move for him. So selling the former Manchester City man this summer makes no sense to me. If the Magpies can build on the current squad over the summer and make a successful start to next season there’s no reason why it shouldn’t encourage Barton commit his future. With Tiote having signed a six year deal and Nolan on the brink, Newcastle have already showed they are intent on keeping their best players.
Additionally, I still feel Joey Barton has more to do to repay the club and the fans who have stuck by him so vehemently throughout his time on Tyneside. If Newcastle can persuade Barton to put pen to paper this summer it will put an end to this contract saga. Then Barton can put all his efforts and ambition into helping Newcastle get back into the higher echelons of the Premier League where they belong.
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