Cheick Tiote will stay with Newcastle until January at least

The midfielder had been looking for a move away from St James’s Park.

But the transfer window in the United Arab Emirates closed yesterday – and Tiote must now wait until the New Year to get a move.

Tiote had been a target for Turkey and Greece in the summer when he was available for transfer, but proposed moves to Galatasaray and Olympiacos broke down.

There was also interest in the 30-year-old, in the last year of his St James’s Park, from the Middle East. However, transfer window in the UAE closed without a club putting a deal together for Tiote, signed from FC Twente six years ago. Tiote must now force his way into the plans of Rafa Benitez, who had left him out of his squads in the early weeks of the campaign given the uncertainty over his future.

Benitez, believing Tiote still has a “something to offer”, will not freeze out the Ivory Coast international.

Speaking earlier this month, United manager Benitez said: “He’s training really well, so I just told him ‘look, just wait a little bit, keep training hard and then we can decide’. “He’s a player who still has something to offer.”