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Upon his announcement as Director of Football at Newcastle United (and his Napoleon-esque self-annointment as Bedo Fif), Joe Kinnear assured us that if he told Mike Ashley that the squad needed a striker (it does) and convinced him the need was genuine then Ashley would make the money available to purchase a striker. At the time, Bedo was referring to now Dortmund hat-trick debutante Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his 8 figure transfer fee (reported to have ultimately been in the neighborhood of £11m/€13m). It is not hard to fathom a young player with widely reported thirst for things material (Swarovski crystal boots, anyone?) preferring the runners-up of Europe who are on an upward trend over Newcastle United who haven't been runners-up to anything for more than a decade. It did, however, feed into the questions about exactly what kind of substance was coming out when Bedo was running his mouth.
Following missing out on PEA, Bedo's sights were placed squarely on France international Bafétimbi Gomis (and to a lesser extent, Darren Bent). After protracted, semi-publicly played out negotiations, the move has now reportedly broken down completely. The public side of the discussions have largely been provided by OL's chairman Jean-Michel Aulas and have been confusing at best. At different points in the process, a fee had been agreed between the clubs but not personal terms with the player or personal terms had been agreed but not transfer fee, etc. The story had settled recently on a "fee has been agreed but agents fees are the holdup" report.
Enter Marseille. Reportedly having come in late and illegally for Gomis, Aulas reported them for breach of protocol and accused them of causing the deal to collapse:
Aulas reported Marseille to the league over an alleged illegal approach for the player, saying he had only done so after Labrune refused to heed a warning.
"We saw Vincent on August 2 and I asked him to stop his manoeuvres," Aulas told Le Journal du Dimanche.
Whatever the truth is in this story and however this official complaint plays out, what we do know is that Aulas is now saying that there are now no bids on the table for Gomis and that he has to meet with the striker's representatives to get things right for Bafé to stay with Lyon.
As the start of the Premier League season looms, the process in and of itself will have done little to soothe the concerns about Kinnear's credentials as DoF (let alone Bedo Fif). There is also the slightly larger concern in the money. If there was any truth to his initial statements about money being made available to purchase a striker, and if the implication that said money was available for £11m man Aubameyang at that time, there is significant question to be raised in why a deal for Gomis could not be reached for a far cheaper price.