Yesterday evening, French football site L’Equipe 21 apparently reported that Yohan Cabaye was in Monaco and had passed a medical, with a view to completing a deal worth €28 million (£23 million). This was reported by French football writer Robin Bairner who said that it was in the evening edition of L’Equipe 21:
He later said that he would be ‘v suprised’ if nothing happened regarding the deal because he had a ‘sure source’:
However, despite this, I, and nobody else, could not find anything of the sort on L’Equipe 21’s website and Robin Bairner was the only person who reported anything to do with this.
Ligue 2 champion’s Monaco, backed by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, having been spending lots of money this summer. They forked out £50 million for widely sought Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid and £60 million for Porto duo Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez so it would not be too far fetched to imagine that Monaco might pay £23 million for Cabaye.
However, earlier today Newcastle denied that the story had even a grain of truth in it, and to be honest, I’m not that suprised. The fact that only one person reported that, and nothing could be found anywhere else always made it a bit of a suspicious rumour and seeing as he is part of Alan Pardew’s plans as well as being Mike Ashely’s favourite player, it would take a lot to move Yohan Cabaye from the Tyne. One thing is certain though, if Newcastle had got £23 million (the price according to the Independent) it would have been a lot more than the £4.3 million that Newcastle signed him from Lille for.
Newcastle 