MOHAMED DIAME
Midfielder still misses his Toon ‘family’
IT’S a team photo with a difference. Federico Fernandez and his Newcastle United team-mates have gathered around the dining table in the Argentine’s home to celebrate his 30th birthday.
Martin Dubravka, Mohamed Diame, Salomon Rondon, Miguel Almiron, Joselu, Kenedy and various friends and family members are all present.
There were still three months left of the season but, with so many individuals facing an uncertain future, this get-together in February 2019 proved one of the final occasions the group enjoyed each other’s company away from the training ground.
Let’s just say the figure tasked with organising a reunion has a job on their hands – even when we can all travel freely again.
Rondon followed Rafa Benitez to Chinese Super League side Dalian Professional after Newcastle decided against signing the No 9 permanently.
Perez completed a bigmoney move to Leicester City.
Joselu returned to Spain to play for Alaves.
Kenedy went back to Chelsea after his loan spell at St James’ Park finished and D iame swapped Tyneside for Doha.
Diame is enjoying life at Al-Ahli but the affable midfielder, a popular figure in the Newcastle dressing room aided by his ability to speak English, French and Spanish, will never forget the three years he spent at St James’ Park.
He said: “Everyone knows how close Spanish speakers are.
“I had a good relationship with everyone. I keep in touch with Salomon Rondon, Joselu, Ayo, all of them.
“There were a lot of players who I treated like brothers to be honest.
“I was one of the oldest in the team and I could see the respect they had for me.
“I had a nice time there and I keep a good relationship with everyone. The only thing I miss is them.
“The Premier League, the football and all this stuff? I’m really happy but of course I miss the people there. They’re family.”
Diame had attracted interest from clubs in England, Spain and Germany as his contract ran out but the Senegalese had always wanted to play in the Middle East in the latter stages of his career.
A one-year offer was on the table from Newcastle but Diame did not want to be in the same situation of “not knowing about your future and what’s going to happen if you are injured” 12 months down the line.
He added: “I wanted to do 10 years in the UK so I’m happy.
“I had in my mind to go to one of these countries like Qatar four or five years ago.
“I was also thinking about this with my decision to go to Newcastle in the Championship when I was in the Premier League after being promoted with Hull.
“I had more opportunities to go to one of these countries from Newcastle than from Hull because of how popular the club is and how people elsewhere follow this team.
“That was also part of my decision. I had a great time at Newcastle but it was the right time for me to go.”
Steve Bruce previously said he would have tried to keep Diame at Newcastle if he had been appointed sooner.
The Magpies’ head coach worked with Diame at Hull and the midfielder scored the play-off winner which sent the Tigers back up to the Premier League in 2016.
No one was happier than Diame to see Bruce get a chance at his boyhood club and, clearly, the veteran still has a lot of time for a “top man”.
He said: “I would have loved to have worked with Steve again because I had a good relationship with him and he’s been very nice toh me as a manager.
“If you speak to most of the players, they will say the same thing because he really has a big heart and looks after his players like sons. “I would have had a lot of doubts about going if he had come earlier. “I spent nice years with him at
There were a lot of players that I treated like brothers. The only thing I miss is them Mohamed Diame
Hull and I would have loved to have been playing for him again but I made this decision and have no regrets.”
Diame’s situation at Newcastle had been further complicated by the uncertainty surrounding the managerial situation – Benitez was also entering the final stages of his contract before he left – as well as bullish talk from the Bin Zayed Group about buying the club from Mike Ashley.
Yet, in some ways, it was nothing new. Diame was also at Newcastle when Amanda Staveley and the Reuben Brothers made their first bid in 2017 and is well-placed to give an insight into what it is like to play for the Magpies when a takeover saga is going on in the background.
He added: “It’s more difficult for the fans. As a player, you train and you play games. You focus on that.
“Maybe some players who have doubts about their future are looking at this more but when you still have two years left on your contract and you’re playing you don’t really care about this to be honest. You just play your football and that’s it.”
Diame had been proud to take Benitez’s call when the Spaniard sounded him out about dropping down to the Championship in the summer of 2016 – and the midfielder soon realised his new manager was “crazy tactically” with his attention to detail.
However, things did not immediately go to plan. In his own words, Diame was “sleeping” in those first few months after a long slog of a season with Hull and would go home “frustrated” and wake up after having a nightmare about a “bad game”.
The Senegalese started working with a personal trainer away from the training ground and paid more attention to what he was eating.
Diame went on to play his part as Newcastle won the Championship in 2017 and, to this day, “that” unforgettable strike against Brighton brings a smile to his face.
He went on: “They even know about it over here! It was a really important goal even if it was a lucky goal because we were fighting with Brighton to finish top of the league.
“It will always be on YouTube and in 10 years, when I look up my career, I will see it again.”
Diame formed a solid partnership with Jonjo Shelvey, who he describes as ‘one of the best players’ he ever shared a dressing room with, as the Magpies finished 10th in their first season back in the topflight.
He still keeps an eye on the Magpies’ results and longs for the day his former team-mates can ‘be close to the fans and sign things’ after games like he did.
There are plenty of moments which have stuck with Diame but the veteran never forgot how nearly 50,000 supporters turned up for a Carabao Cup tie against Preston in just his third month at the club.
He added: “I thought: ‘This is crazy’ I already knew I was in a big club but when this happened I said: ‘Newcastle is something big’.
“I’m proud to be part of this family and I will tell my kids about it all later in life.”