10 Players Who Proved Life Isn't Always Better After Newcastle

8. Danny Simpson

Currently taking up a precious seat on Leicester City's bench... Newcastle wanted to keep Danny Simpson before he left the club on a free transfer in 2013. The club had offered him a new deal with around a year of his old contract to go, but he rejected it, claiming that the club didn't meet his demands. Mathieu Debuchy had arrived at the club six months before the former Manchester United man headed for the exit door, so why would United offer what was going to be a backup player in the long run the £30,000 per week that he wanted? He was obviously thinking there would be a number of Premier League clubs queueing up for his signature as he cemented his place as United's first choice right back during the Championship campaign, before playing notable roles in The Magpies' first season back in the Premier League and fifth placed finish a year later. No Newcastle fan who saw the former Tulisa-lover play during his last campaign was bothered that he was leaving. Yes he was solid (only because he wasn't talented enough to foray further forward), but he ultimately wasn't good enough as the club (seemingly) continued to shift away from that British core of players that starred in the second tier. We could have done with him during the second half of last season however. Although saying that, Marcelino, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Peter Ramage would all have been welcomed back with open arms. That's how desperate United were under Geordie John Carver.