The Mag and Mark Jensen have had a Canal+ interview with Newcastle midfielder Yohan Cabaye translated from the French, and Yohan has revealed that he had an offer to join Tottenham in the summer to replace Luka Modric, who went to Real Madrid, but he turned it down and preferred to stay at Newcastle – good for him – in fact great for him.

Yohan Cabaye – preferred to stay at Newcastle



When Yohan Cabaye first arrived at Newcastle last summer, and it was a huge coup for us to get such a talented player for just €5M, he said he also had offers from Spain, but wanted to play in the Premier League, which he thought was the best league in the world – he’s right there.

This is what Yohan told Canal+:

“For me the Premier League is the best league in the world, you have to work twice as hard and we know about the high tempo in every match. This is what attracted me and I will develop physically.”

And his manager at Lille, Rudi Garcia, thinks that Yohan is now a much better player than he was while at the French club, with his extra conditioning and playing against top sides every weekend – and of course the games are being broadcast live around the world, and seem to be catching on even over here in the US.

This is what Rudi Garcia said:

“A year on Cabaye is stronger, he has reached maturity, he is a complete player, he can do everything and he can play in the midfield of all top teams in the world”

We heard from Newcastle manager Alan Pardew in early September that a number of Newcastle stars had been tempted away by big clubs in August, and it was thought that Yohan Cabaye was one of them, and it seems it was Tottenham who came in for Yohan – but he turned them down.

This is what Yohan had to say about that:

“The offer from Tottenham was to replace Modric.” “If I had wanted to leave I would have; I have not left, I was not meant to leave as I am still here and I hope a lot of good things will come out of it”.

Alan Pardew was then asked if his French International central midfielder could play for a top team, and the answer to that must have been obvious, after Yohan looked one of France’s best players in June during the Euro 2012 Championships in Poland and the Ukraine.

In any case, this is what Alan Pardew said:

“Could he play for a top team?-Yes, do I want him to go elsewhere? – NO”.

Cabaye’s fellow central midfielder at Newcastle, Cheick Tiote, also turned down a move to Chelsea, on the same day last year that Andy Carroll left for Liverpool, so it’s always good to have players on Tyneside who want to play for Newcastle United – very good in fact.

We can mark down Yohan Cabaye now as one of those players, and he will have endeared himself to the hearts of Newcastle fans everywhere, by the decision he made in the summer – to stay on Tyneside.

It’s great to (still) have Yohan Cabaye at Newcastle.

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