10 Players Who Regret Leaving Newcastle United

7. Sebastien Bassong

Another of the post-relegation deserters and perhaps the toughest one to take. Newcastle gave Cameroon defender Sebastien Bassong his big break in English football when they signed him from French club Metz for £500,000 in the summer of 2008. Having just been relegated from Ligue 1, the highly rated centre half had a point to prove.

Over the course of the next season, as Newcastle imploded on a number of occasions, Bassong was perhaps the only man to enhance his reputation. His pace, calmness in possession and leadership made him a huge hit with Newcastle fans and it was felt that although clubs would be looking at him, his age, 23 at the time, and number of years in front of him would allow him to stay on and learn the game even more by helping Newcastle make it out of the Championship.

However, much like many of today's professional footballers, patience wasn't something that Bassong considered. After refusing to travel with the team for a preseason friendly in Scotland, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur for £8 million. Although this represented good business for Newcastle, it was incredibly disappointing.

Bassong's career in North London stagnated completely and, after growing tired of the lack of first-team opportunities, he moved onto Norwich and subsequently fell down the leagues with both them and Peterborough United. It is a huge pity that Bassong has wasted his potential but equally there is no sympathy from Newcastle fans for the fact he may well endure exactly what he tried so desperately to avoid at Newcastle five years ago, instead of having a good, fulfilling career on Tyneside.