Steven Taylor signs new five and a half year deal at Newcastle United
The defeat against Manchester City on Boxing Day may not have done Newcastle’s confidence a world of good but tying a player of Steven Taylor’s quality to the club for a long period of time will surely come across as good news to all and sundry associated
with the club.
Mercurial yet highly talented Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor has put pen on paper to sign a deal that will keep him at the club for 5 and a half more years.
Taylor’s current contract was due to expire in the summer and with him free to open talks to all parties in January, it was absolutely imperative that Newcastle tied their man in a long deal. The news must be a good one for the Toons as on the pitch the
results have not been good for them and they have slid down the Premier League table.
But the news may just come as a welcome boost for the team and with the search of a new manager on, they may just be able to turn things round and maintain the promising run that they were on a couple of weeks ago.
On signing the contract, Taylor himself was overjoyed and said, "I joined the club as a boy and feel confident that I can fulfil all my professional ambitions here at my hometown club, I have never lost hope that everything could be sorted and that I could
stay."
Taylor has made 177 appearances for his club since signing on for them as a school boy but this year, he missed the most part of the season with a shoulder injury and only recently returned to first team action against Chelsea in November and has been putting
in stellar performances since then.
In an interview just after signing the deal, Taylor said, "I would like to thank the fans for their support throughout the contract negotiations." He added, "I'll look to repay them with my performances in the black and white shirt. Also, I have to thank
Chris Hughton for bringing me back into the team, Alan Pardew, who made it clear from day one that he wanted me to stay at the club, the board and management for their willingness to work together to find an agreement, and finally my agent Paul Stretford for
always having my best interests at heart."
Alan Pardew after making a winning start to his tenure as the Newcastle manager lost in his second outing against City but securing the signature of Taylor will certainly be regarded as a success for the former West Ham boss.
About Steven Taylor, Pardew said, “I've always really admired Steven Taylor and I thought it was imperative that we kept him here. He's still young, he's a Geordie and he's a top defender. He's played a lot of games for somebody his age, played in Europe
and captained his country at Under-21 level. That says everything you need to know about him. Steven is somebody who can be bedrock of our defence for a long time to come, and its great news that he's staying. I made it one of my priorities when I arrived."
Steven Taylor was born in Greenwich and grew up in Whitley Bay and made his debut against Mallorca while being on loan at Wycombe Wanderers in 2004.
Since that day, he has continued to prosper and all the managers at Newcastle after Bryan Robson considered him as an integral part of Newcastle’s defence.
Taylor was also part of the Toon squad that was relegated in 2009 but stuck with the team and helped his side secure promotion the next season.
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