Sébastien Bassong reveals: I’ll leave NUFC if we’re relegated

May 22 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

SÉBASTIEN Bassong has revealed he will leave Newcastle United after just one season if they are relegated to the Championship at Aston Villa on Sunday.

Although few United fans would blame the young Frenchman for not wanting to follow the Magpies into the second tier of English football, the timing of his announcement will anger many.

Bassong’s performances have provided some of the few bright spots in a consistently dismal campaign, but the threat about his future will not go down well behind the scenes at St James’s Park, particularly as he will miss the trip to Villa Park as a result of his costly sending-off against Fulham last weekend.

“In the case that Newcastle go down, then I would have to hold talks with the club after the last game of the season,” said Bassong, who was also relegated with Metz in France’s Ligue 1 last season.

“Everybody knows that I am an ambitious boy, and playing Championship football never crossed my mind. You have to have a plan for your career and playing in the second division would be a step backward.”

Bassong will not be the only player who would look to leave in the summer if relegation is not avoided and Newcastle will be desperate to get most of them off the wage bill. However, Bassong would be one of the players Alan Shearer would fight to keep at the club, although it looks as if the ambitious 22-year-old has already made up his mind about what he wants to do.

Signed by Kevin Keegan – despite claims by Dennis Wise that he was responsible for bringing him over from France – the powerful centre-back has emerged as one of the best young defenders in the Premier League.

Indeed, even without relegation, Newcastle – who are refusing to print numbers on the back of replica shirts because they only have Premier League ones in stock at the club shop – will have to fight to keep the youngster, who only has one year left on a contract which is believed to earn him less than £7,000 a week.

As with any good young French player, Bassong has inevitably been linked with a move to Arsenal, with his agent keen to talk up whatever rumours there are regarding a possible transfer.

Newcastle have insisted they will offer him a vastly improved deal at the end of the season, but all contract negotiations are on hold until the club know which division they will be playing in next term.

Whether safety would persuade Bassong to remain in the North East remains to be seen, although he has nothing but positive things to say about Shearer as a manager. He said: “I hope that Alan Shearer will stay, whatever happens on Sunday. I understand that he likes the job and is enjoying his time as manager. Of course he uses his charisma, status and experience as a player, but it helps him transmit his message to the squad.

“Obviously, some managers are more about tactics than him, but he makes you forget his so-called lack of experience as a coach, thanks to his experience on the pitch.”

Meanwhile, United assistant manager Iain Dowie hopes he will have left Newcastle United in better shape than he found it, even if he and Shearer do not become the permanent management team in the summer.

Shearer is expected to be unveiled as permanent boss whatever happens on Sunday, although Dowie has claimed nothing is certain at this stage as he looks to keep the focus on Aston Villa.

He said: “I hope that, whatever happens, we’ve left Newcastle in a good shape. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I don’t think we’ve seen many bad performances.

“I look at Chelsea in the second half when we were chasing the game; Tottenham in the first half. But overall the performances have been good. We’ve just not been able to put the ball in the back of the net.”

A point will be good enough against Martin O’Neill’s sixth-placed side on Sunday to keep the Magpies up, if Hull lose at home to Manchester United, and Newcastle will not go to Birmingham with a gung-ho attitude.

Dowie explained: “If we play an expansive game, we could get torn apart.

“They have got midfielders who have pace and skill, and (striker) John Carew is a handful and has been since his days in Spain (with Valencia).

“We have got to cope with that. Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young will be a handful, whoever’s in our defence. They’ve got pace and power and they’re not up there by accident.”

Brad Friedel, meanwhile, has warned Newcastle that Aston Villa will not roll over and gift them three points on Sunday.

Keeper Friedel insists Villa will be aiming to put their recent poor form behind them in the race to secure fifth place and edge out Everton.

He said: “Our form has been a bit disappointing recently.

“But we are still fighting for a fifth-place finish and that might not bode well for Newcastle as we definitely have something to play for.

“After finishing in sixth place last season, we do want to do better this season.

“I know we’ve already qualified for the Europa League, but we are professionals and we do want to do the best we can all the time and we do want to secure that fifth spot.”