Newcastle United face West Ham United in the Premier League tonight, and the Hammers will be without former Toon target Maxwel Cornet.
The Ivorian joined David Moyes’ side during the summer, after the winger had suffered relegation with Burnley.
Their demotion to the second tier meant that Cornet was available for a decent fee. His contract had a relegation release clause of £17.5million.
Cornet was heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park, with Eddie Howe eager to add a winger to his squad.
It was reported that the 26-year-old was offered to Newcastle, while TalkSPORT claimed at one point that the Magpies were ready to pay the £17.5million required.
However, that did not happen. But while Newcastle did not make a move, West Ham did. He was one of many Toon targets to head to the London Stadium during the summer after being linked with a move to Tyneside.
Lucas Paqueta followed a similar path, and he has been praised by Howe ahead of tonight’s game at St James’ Park. The Brazilian will almost certainly be involved for the away side, but the same can’t be said for Cornet.
Maxwel Cornet to miss Newcastle clash
Ahead of the game, David Moyes spoke to the press and provided an injury update.
“Maxi Cornet is not available for Saturday,” he said.
“They’re all getting better and I couldn’t give you precise dates on any of them, but hopefully they are going in the right direction.
“Maxi has gone back to France again – he’s not quite ready yet to step up to training levels. We need to bring him on and hopefully get him back as quick as we can.”
Cornet misses the chance show Newcastle what they’re missing
Cornet has been out of action for a long time now with a calf injury, and it has ruled him out of featuring at St James’ Park. He scored on his last appearance against the Magpies, in what was his final game in a Burnley shirt.
Since then, it has been a tough few months. Cornet’s West Ham career has not taken off after being limited to just five Premier League appearances for his new club.
Given his fitness issues, it looks like Newcastle made the right decision in not going for Cornet. Instead, they bided their time and splashed out in January on Anthony Gordon.
The £45million man will be hoping to make his Toon debut against West Ham, and could potentially be named in the starting XI.
But Cornet won’t be playing for the opposition, and will miss the chance to prove that Newcastle made a mistake in not signing him last summer.
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