Mbemba gone!
If we didn’t know any better this would now be looking like rats jumping from a sinking ship!
The latest player out of the door, no doubt to be replaced by some freebee Rafa never really had on his list, is Chancel Mbemba.
Playing a total of 59 games for Newcastle United, Chancel had signed from Anderlecht for £10m back in 2015. But starts proved hard to come by under Rafa Benitez with the DR Congo international finally leaving for pastures new, this time in Portugal with Porto.
The fee is believed to be around the £7m mark, not that it matters one jot, as Rafa and the first team are unlikely to see that money in my lifetime.
Most fans seemed to think highly of Mbemba, who’s turn of pace seemed to get him out of bother more than any real positional sense. And it was perhaps that, and his seeming inability to head a ball, that ultimately cost him when trying to fulfil Rafa’s rigorous back line requirements.
He can at least boast one goal, and on the day that Newcastle clinched the Championship title in 2017 too. A goal he touchingly dedicated to Tiote.
Good luck Chancel.