After seemingly tweeting his last goodbye to Newcastle fans on Saturday, Argentine winger Jonas Gutierrez has made his expected exit from St. James' Park today. Though it's not quite the permanent departure we expected... BBC Football confirms that Gutierrez has joined Norwich City on loan until the end of the season. The 30-year-old reunites with former Newcastle boss Chris Hughton and will be hoping to secure a run of games that would put him in contention to make Argentina's World Cup Squad. Hughton said of his new acquisition, a player who was a key man in his Newcastle side gaining quick promotion back to the Premier League in 2010 after relegation to the Championship;
"Jonas can play on either flank and in a central position, so he's a very welcome addition." "He's somebody that will certainly bring experience - he's played close to 200 games for Newcastle so he knows the Premier League very well," "He's been in England for five years, so there won't be that settling-in period that you would have with some other players. That's important, particularly in January when you need players that can go straight into the squad."
It had been expected earlier in the weekend that Gutierrez would join the Canaries in a permanent £3 million deal but in the end, possibly due to caution on the part of his club as to whether they could afford his Premier League wages should an unthinkable relegation occur, a temporary switch was agreed upon. Gutierrez said:
"I'm happy to be here. It's an opportunity for me to get back in the game and try and do my best for the team."
The hard-working, tough-tackling and tricky winger only made two appearances for The Magpies this season and had spent some time away from the North East for what was mysteriously described as "personal reasons". Reports in the Daily Mirror claimed Gutierrez's actual absence from first team action was because he was a handful of appearances away from triggering an extension clause in his current deal that runs out in 18 months time. With a policy of shipping players out when they hit their early 30s, Newcastle had no intention of offering him a new deal. Gutierrez made 163 appearances in the league for The Magpies since joining from Real Mallorca in July 2008, scoring 10 goals.
Matt Holmes is the co-founder of What Culture, formerly known as Obsessed With Film. He has been blogging about pop culture and entertainment since 2006 and has written over 10,000 articles.
