Newcastle United had reportedly reached an agreement with Lorient over the sale of Cheick Tiote on the final day of the summer transfer window.
According to reports from Spor, Newcastle United had agreed a deal with Lorient for Cheick Tiote on deadline day but the transfer did not come into fruition as the player did not respond.
Tiote was one of the first players expected to be leaving Newcastle United this summer following the club’s relegation into the Championship, and clubs from Turkey, France and the UAE were all said to be interested in the Ivorian.
After much speculation, Tiote finally looked set to leave St. James’ Park as Galatasaray had struck a £1.6 million agreement with Newcastle for the midfielder but the transfer collapsed at the last minute as Ivory Coast international failed a medical with the Turkish outfit (Daily Mail).
With the deal falling through so late in the window, Newcastle were unable to offload Tiote and the 30-year-old is now forced to stay put at Tyneside for the time being.
Now in surprising revelations from Spor, it has been stated that Newcastle had indeed managed to agree a fee with French outfit Lorient over the sale of Tiote on transfer deadline day but the move did not take place as the player could not be contacted in time.
Tiote did play a key role in Newcastle’s unbeaten end to the Premier League season last term and the Chronicle have recently suggested that manager Rafael Benitez could well hand the former Twente man a chance to revive his career at St. James’ Park.
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