Aaron Hughes had played in the Newcastle first team for eight full seasons when he was bizarrely shipped out to Aston Villa for just £1 million in May 2005, with Graeme Souness appearing to have completely lost faith in the reliable and versatile defender. A player who had represented the club in the Champions League and been a member of Sir Bobby Robson's fine early-2000s side, Hughes was versatile and was a solid performer at both full-back and centre-back. After impressing during two years at Villa Park, Hughes then joined Fulham in 2007 - and went on to become a stalwart at centre-back for seven years for the west London club. While Newcastle were struggling to find a reliable centre-back over the past 10 years, a player they let leave for £1 million was regularly performing to a high level at other Premier League sides. It was a bizarre decision to let the 96-cap Northern Ireland international leave - and they have paid the price for it over the past decade.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
