5. Newcastle Secretly Want Ba To Leave - Injury Concerns
Even before Newcastle secured the free signing of Demba Ba, the club had to be convinced that Demba Ba's chronic knee issue wasn't going to restrict him to just a dozen games a season. In the end United took the gamble and Ba ended up playing the entire season without any significant injuries, playing 34 of the 38 league season, missing the other 4 games only through the African Cup of Nations. And yet, Newcastle are still not convinced that they won't run into a problem with Ba's knee. His condition has been described as a degenerative one, an injury that doesn't have any chance of improving. United believe the older Ba gets, the more he will run into fitness trouble with it and could potentially end up in a situation like Ledley King when he can't conduct full time training and has to be nursed through select games.