Steve Wraith has been speaking on the latest episode of his YouTube show NUFC Matters, and has been talking about all things relating to Newcastle United with guests John Gibson and Malcolm Macdonald.
Wraith used his time to talk about many things, and one of the topics he discussed was Matt Ritchie, who has reportedly been offered to Bournemouth in a deal for Newcastle to sign Callum Wilson from the Cherries.
However, Wraith suggests the 30-year-old, who is valued at £8.55m by Transfermarkt, does not want to leave Newcastle because of the wages he is on, though Wraith also believes Newcastle would not benefit from losing the Scotsman.
He said: “I’ve heard Ritchie doesn’t want to go, he just signed a three-year contract, he doesn’t want to leave.
“The reason being that [Yoshinori] Muto, Ritchie, etc. they’re on ludicrous wages; Jonjo Shelvey, for me, is on ludicrous wages.
“These players, if they don’t have to move, won’t want to move, but I’ve got to be honest, I wouldn’t get rid of Ritchie under the current circumstances.
“If there’s no takeover, I don’t think losing Ritchie is a good thing.”
Would you be sad to see Ritchie go?
Yes, he has been a great player for us
No, he is not good enough
TIF Thoughts…
It has been claimed that the Toon have offered Ritchie to Bournemouth as the Cherries want their former player back to help in the Championship, and the Toon want Wilson, who has scored 41 Premier League goals in 126 appearances.
However, Wraith seems to think that Ritchie will want to stay, while he also wants the midfielder to remain on Tyneside – and he did indeed just sign a new three-year deal with the Toon in March.
So, you can see why Wraith thinks he would want to stay; however, if the Cherries want him, then you would think that Newcastle would have to submit a significantly chunkier bid to prise Wilson from the south coast should Ritchie intend on staying put.
The Toon are understood to have a low budget of between £25m and £30m plus player sales, so you can see why they would want to do this deal, and it will be interesting to see if this progresses or if the Toon will have to look at alternative ways to get Wilson to St. James’ Park.