MAGPIES SET TO CUT THEIR LOSSES ON BOTH HAIDARA AND GAMEZ

DUO WILL EXIT CLUB IN THE SUMMER

NEWCASTLE United will cut Massadio Haidara and Jesus Gamez loose in the summer after two signings who promised much have – ultimately – come to nothing.

Haidara and Gamez, along with Australian defender Curtis Good, will be released when their contracts run out at the end of the season to end a pair of Newcastle careers which have never matched the expectations which greeted their arrivals.

With Rafa Benitez likely to want to see a refresh of his squad – there are 10 players with less than 310 minutes on the pitch this season – Haidara and Gamez will not be spared.

No negotiations have taken place with either and given Haidara was close to joining St Etienne last season there is an inevitability about the player’s exit.

It will remove £90,000-per-month from the wage bill if L’Equipe’s information is correct.

They quoted that figure as his wage demands when negotiating with the Ligue 1 club – which is why he has not been able to secure a permanent move away from Tyneside, where his star has faded.

Haidara’s is a difficult tale to make sense of.

The left-back was identified by Newcastle at the height of their incursion into the French market and highlighted by former chief scout Graham Carr as proof of the value which could be squeezed from Ligue 1.

The club’s transfer committee had also discussed a move for Luke Shaw, then of Southampton, but as a 17-year-old he was valued at £7m by the Saints.

Haidara, who was 20 and had experience of first-team football under his belt, was less than a third of that price and his wage demands were less too.

His signing was not one of the ‘purples’ Derek Llambias liked to talk about – first-team-ready stars – but was instead a notch above the development squad.

With France under-21 international honours on his CV when he arrived, there was an expectation he would follow some of his teammates into the first team.

Haidara impressed in his early days, making enough of an impact in his first weeks to persuade Alan Pardew to fast-track him into the first team. He was quick, brave and technically sound.

Yet almost five years ago to the day, his progress was undermined by what the player himself referred to as a “missile” – namely Callum McManaman’s high tackle at Wigan which left him seriously injured.

He said at the time: “I don’t understand.

“His tackle could have ended my career and ruined my life but in the end he will play football before me.

“We have to protect the players. I don’t want to change the physical mentality, pace and commitment of football in England but we cannot tolerate tackles like this in football.”

For a shy 20-year-old new to Newcastle it was a rude awakening.

He showed commendable restraint and dignity in saying he would forgive both McManaman and Dave Whelan, the Wigan owner, who claimed his player had won the ball - but Haidara’s claim at the time he would rise back to his feet “as soon as possible” now sounds hollow.

Speak to people at Newcastle and they will tell you it had a profound impact on him. A first serious injury – it was severe bruising but it had knock-on effects elsewhere – he admits to it “playing on his mind” at times. A series of injuries which followed suggested it did. He said: “Before McManaman I was never injured so it was the first time. “I was a little bit afraid because it was the first. After that I was more mature about the injuries, I looked forward and tried to be positive. “It is a little bit difficult in your mind because sometimes you come back after a long time out and you are injured again,” Haidara has played less than 30 games for Newcastle. His mental strength was called into question at times but he retains potential.

It is understood United were ready to let him go back to Ligue 1 for free on the condition they would receive a hefty sell-on if he re-ignited his career. There are not many who have failed at Newcastle they would consider that for.

For Gamez, it was more cut and dried. Injuries have been the biggest problem with a player Benitez felt could offer versatility and experience in the Championship.

His Atletico Madrid background was checked out and Benitez received recommendations about the player – but it did not pan out as he had hoped.

A series of injuries have left him unable to make any impact.

Two signings from different eras, the tales of Haidara and Gamez are proof no matter how well a player is scouted and analysed, sometimes things just do not work out.

Two signings are proof no matter how well a player is scouted sometimes things don’t work out LEE RYDER