Most clubs have players they are always reportedly sure to sign, and for Newcastle fans it was usually Charlie Austin and Bas Dost, as well as French forward Bafetimbi Gomis.
Gomis was linked with Newcastle over a number of transfer windows this decade, but his only St James’ Park appearance ended up being as a visiting player, for Swansea.
A deal for Gomis even reportedly got as close as Newcastle agreeing a fee for the striker in August 2013, before he ended up staying at Lyon, despite the French club’s president insisting they would not be keeping him.
He signed for Swansea a year later, but that did not stop the talk of a move to Newcastle being proclaimed in the media.
So what happened to the player nicknamed The Panther, due to his prowling goal celebration?
After leaving France for the Premier League, Gomis made 71 appearances for Swansea, where he scored just 17 goals in all competitions.
Of his 64 league appearances, 28 were as a substitute, which highlights his failure to make a big impact at the club.
Gomis scored regularly at every club after leaving Swansea
After two largely disappointing years in Wales, and despite having been linked with Newcastle once again in the January transfer window in 2016, he had a season-long loan back in France with Marseilles, where he scored an impressive 21 goals in 34 games.
But they did not make his deal permanent which saw him move to Turkish giants Galatasaray on a permanent deal, again scoring regularly, netting a fantastic 32 goals from his 42 games there.
After such an impressive year, it was something of a surprise when he he was sold by the Turkish club – despite him being 33 at the time.
He signed for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal Riyadh, where he is still playing, and has continued his fine form – scoring 24 goals from 32 games in his first season.
Gomis is now 34-years-old, but still belying his age, and is still banging in goals regularly in Saudi Arabia’s Professional League, with six from just nine games so far this season.
One of the longest running transfer sagas of the Mike Ashley era at Newcastle, a move never materialised, despite Gomis seemingly destined to play for Newcastle at some point.
He maintained a superb goal-scoring record everywhere he played – except in the Premier League – and whether he would have had better fortunes had he come to Tyneside, we will now never know.
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