Taylor - Money-Grabber Or Heart On Tyneside?

20 December 2010 12:11
It is crunch time for Steven Taylor - with contract talks planned for early next week. Let's get the record straight - Taylor has never said in public he wants to leave Newcastle - but his agent has never made any secret of the fact he has tried to 'encourage' a move to a bigger club. Taylor, allegedly, has been impressed with what Alan Pardew has had to say – and who knows what the new talks will produce. Taylor’s future was thrown into doubt when he turned down United’s last contract offer ... the second offer he has put in the bin ... but the January transfer window opens in two weeks and decisions must be made. Taylor's agent insists Manchester City, Liverpool, Everton, Wolves and Stoke are all interested, but he also said Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs were "interested" back in the summer and none of them made an offer. Agent Paul Stretford is notorious in Manchester for causing bad feeling between Wayne Rooney and Man Utd fans by getting his client to ask for a transfer ... at a club that frowns on such decisions. Sir Alex Ferguson has gone on record as saying: "That man is not welcome at Old Trafford". Whatever Taylor does ... he is starting to test the patience of fans. Pardew’s determination to keep Taylor could make a big difference to the discussions. Pardew: “I have spoken to Steven and the indication from him is not that he’s looking to leave. “It is far from resolved. Steven wants it to be right for him – the contract, that is – and that he has a fair contract for his ability. “I think that is fair and I will sit down with him and his agent to try and work out a resolution. “But if he could, I think he would stay. “I want him to stay. “When I spoke to him this week I wanted to know the ins and outs of the contract negotiations and how they’ve gone. I want to know what the problem is and how we can resolve it. “We might not be able to but I hope we can. “Newcastle have an asset there that isn’t an asset at the end of the year. “I can understand why they have transfer listed him. “They want something for their asset – this player is a good player, he’s been involved with England recently. “If you’re Newcastle, you don’t want to lose a player of that calibre.”

Source: FOOTYMAD