Silly season appears to have started in earnest with Newcastle linked to a sensational move for Nice striker Mario Balotelli.
The former Liverpool and Man City striker has been reportedly banished from the Nice training ground by Patrick Vieira.
And it has been said that Vieira would not stand in Balotelli’s way if he wanted to go to Newcastle.
However, Lee Ryder has poured cold water on the possible move saying, “Newcastle have not made any bid to sign Mario Balotelli despite reports in Italy today”.
Ryder, the Chronicles chief Newcastle writer, made the claim on his personal Twitter page on Friday morning.
#nufc have not made any bid to sign Mario Balotelli despite reports in Italy today.
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) January 4, 2019
OPINION
We’d love to see madcap Mario Balotelli back in the Premier League but we’re not sure that Newcastle fans would feel the same way. Rafa Benitez couldn’t handle Aleksander Mitrovic so we’re not sure that the Nice striker is exactly his type of player. His career has been littered with moves that have almost come off, only to be derailed by the player’s actions. He infamously wore a “Why always me?” t-shirt when he was at Man City but he’s answered that question several times over himself. H’es done really well at Nice though, with 43 goals in 76 games. He’s got a decent record pretty much everywhere he’s been actually, but that’s not the big problem with him. We don’t think there’s any legs in this one, but we’ll carry on hoping. Newcastle do need goals though, but fans aren’t expecting fireworks this January. Money is the issue again and that seems to be what’s stopping the most likely deal at the moment – one for MLS star Miguel Almiron.