Hodgson Ends Newcastle’s Dream of Townsend

As a disappointing summer began to unfold, a familiar rumor gave hope to the hearts of many Newcastle fans. The club were once again linked to Andros Townsend. Townsend was a fan favorite during his short spell at the club, a hard working winger who was not afraid to shoot the ball, and possessed unbelievable work rates for a winger. The rumors this time made so much sense. Newcastle were going to sell Matt Ritchie to fund the move, an action that was all part of a transfer domino sequence that involved everyone from Andriy Yarmolenko to Xherdan Shaqiri.

Fans gained hope as Yarmolenko was signed, then Antonio and Shaqiri were announced, all that was left was for Antonio to be sold, Matt Ritchie to be bought and for Newcastle to acquire Townsend. All was looking well, until someone asked Roy Hodgson about the rumored departure of his winger.

The Crystal Palace boss said the Eagles have “no interest” in selling Andros Townsend. He then went on to explain that Townsend is on the same level as Zaha, a player who has been deemed untouchable.

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As it stands, neither winger will be sold as they are too important to the boss to be let go. According to Football.London the manager had this to say bout Crystal Palace’s transfer plans

“I am not surprised that other clubs would be interested, and there are players at other clubs who aren’t for sale that I wouldn’t mind, but we are not selling players.

“We are not a selling club at the moment, far from it. We are working very hard to keep the players we have got, and players of big importance, and Zaha and Townsend are right up there as players we want to keep.

“And speculation can continue, the fun can continue if people want to read it, but I have no interest in it.”

As Newcastle enter the last 4 weeks of the transfer window there is much concern as Newcastle are still in search of a striker, a few more offensive players and defensive cover. The future does look bleak for Newcastle as they have seemingly struggled to capture any permanent signings thus far.