Yohan Cabaye explains why he chose Newcastle United over Aston Villa


 
 
 
 
 
 

Yohan Cabaye was one of the massive rare positives of the Mike Ashley era.

Maybe Graham Carr’s very finest moment as he found out the France international midfielder was available for an absolute bargain £4.5m due to a clause in his contract.

Yohan Cabaye key to Lille pulling off a stunning league and cup double but then instead of playing Champions League football the following season, Cabaye choosing a move to Tyneside instead.

Graham Carr massively striking gold twice that summer as he also had knowledge that Demba Ba had a relegation clause in his West Ham contract, the striker actually joining Newcastle United on a free from the Hammers as they went down.

For a combined £4.5m in transfer fees, the two new signings then connected with some very good players Newcastle United already had, such as Krul, Coloccini, Enrique, Jonas, Ben Arfa and Tiote, to help produce that astonishing 2011/12 fifth place season, despite all Mike Ashley did to prevent anything positive at all happening in his 14+ years reign.

However, Yohan Cabaye explaining that he actually could have joined Aston Villa instead.

One of those sliding doors type of moments, as I can’t see any way Newcastle United would have finished top five in 2011/12 without Yohan Cabaye. So where would Newcastle have finished instead in the league that season and what would have then flowed from that…

Yohan Cabaye speaking to Ladbrokes 1-2-Free on why he chose Newcastle United over Aston Villa:

“My goal was always to play in the Premier League.

“I always wanted to play there because, for me, it’s the best league in the world, by far.

“In December 2010, I visited Aston Villa’s training ground and stadium, because they had Gerard Houllier at the time. I spoke with him, and he explained the project, and I was happy.

“It sounded like a good moment for me to move to England, but I explained to him that I was going to wait until the end of the season, because I was in a title race with Lille at the time.

“I wanted to make my decision at the end of the season, rather than in the January.

“So, I kept playing with Lille, and we were edging closer and closer to the title, and the French Cup, that was all I was focused on.

“Then, at the end of March, or April, my agent called me to say Newcastle was also in the race.

“I was happy to listen to what they were going to propose in terms of an offer.

“I knew the history of Newcastle because David Ginola had played there, Laurent Robert, too. There were a lot of French connections with the club.

“I knew the stadium was fantastic.

“I knew the atmosphere was incredible.

“I said the same to them -I wanted to win the French league and then think about my decision.

“I then had a call from Gerard who explained to me that he wouldn’t be continuing as manager of Aston Villa.

“So from that moment, it was always going to be Newcastle.

“I wanted to sign because of the history, because of the fans, and because of Alan Pardew.”