1. Florian Thauvin
Not named among the substitutes yesterday, Florian Thauvin looks like he has kicked his last ball for Newcastle this season... and quite possibly forever as he
seeks a loan move back to France. The plight of talented French wingers on Tyneside is really quite astounding. Newcastle turned a seemingly world class talent in Hatem Ben Arfa into a player who they suddenly didn't think could play football, explicitly releasing him before his contract was up on a free when just two years earlier he probably wouldn't have been sold for under £20 million. Yoan Gouffran came in as a Loic Remy style winger/come attacker and despite initially hitting the net and showcasing his forward-thinking skills, he mystifyingly became a defensive thinking central midfielder and now looks broken as a player. Remy Cabella came in for big money and big expectations and certainly his YouTube highlight reel promised a player with as many tricks up his sleeve as Ben Arfa and a vision for as spectacular goals as Yohan Cabaye. Not built for the Premier League would soon become the verdict as he was asked to provide creativity to a side that otherwise had none. One season was enough for him to impress and then he too was, essentially, given away. Then came in Florian Thauvin, a man who caught the attention of the footballing world at such a young age and certainly had been tracked by Newcastle for several years before they finally got his man this summer after a run of terrible form at Marseille. Just over six months later and mostly fleeting appearances and a severe lack of starts and the club have given up on him already. Alright, outside of a few glimpses of hope in his Newcastle spell he has been dreadful but so has the team on the whole. To give up on such a talented boy who has likely had less time in a black and white shirt than game-time Graham Carr witnessed to scout him is head-scratching beyond belief. If Newcastle do indeed see
Andros Townsend as their next big hope on the wings... just make sure he's actually got the skills and temperament to do well on Tyneside. Otherwise the accumulated losses on all these wingers will start to eat into all that profit earned from the likes of the real talent in messrs Cabaye, Debuchy and Carroll that were sold for good money.