10 Players Who Regret Leaving Newcastle United

6. Habib Beye

In many ways a similiar story to Bassong, though at the other end of his career at Newcastle. Habib Beye was an incredibly popular player at Newcastle in his two year stint with the club. A wholehearted, solid and consistent defender, the Senegalese fullback even earned the honour of having a website named after him called "Beyewatch", in which a group of Newcastle fans would create chants and write facts about the player.

Beye was a target for a number of Newcastle managers before he finally joined from Marseille in 2007, when Sam Allardyce was the manager. In terms of response to his decision to leave the club in 2009, it was hard not to understand his reasoning for doing so, despite him saying he'd like to stay on and fight for the cause beforehand.

Unlike Bassong, Beye could see the end of his career on the horizon and with Aston Villa, in very good shape at the time, agreeing to sign him, the 31 year old stayed in the Premier League. His opportunities were limited as Villa once again pushed for European qualification, but his experience was vital when he did play.

As he got older, his chances of football decreased and so after a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers, it became clear that another year at Newcastle would have benefited him more. However, with the much younger Danny Simpson replacing him, the feeling perhaps wasn't mutual, despite his popularity.