Report: Mo Diame to leave Newcastle and sign £100,000 per-week contract in Qatar

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Mo Diame is set to leave Newcastle United after The Sun reported that he has signed a £100k-a-week deal with Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa.

The ex-Senegal international has run down his contract at St James’ Park and will leave after three years at the club.

Diame was a reliable member of Rafa Benitez’s team last season. He featured in 29 Premier League games for the Spaniard, starting 24 of them.

Solid but unspectacular would be a way to assess the midfielder’s time in the North East.

He signed in 2016 from Hull City and helped the Magpies to promotion from the Championship during his first season.

Diame will leave the Premier League to sign his new lucrative contract having played 103 appearances, scoring eight goals and registering three assists.

TBR Verdict

Diame leaving on a free is hardly the worst case scenario for Newcastle during this transfer window.

Benitez could do with some strength in depth in the middle of the park, however.

Sean Longstaff is attracting interest from Manchester United; whilst Issac Hayden has a desire to be closer to his family in the south.

If those two were to follow Diame out of the club it would present a real problem for Newcastle.

Perhaps the surprising aspect of the midfielder departing is the wages that he will earn.

He has never really looked like being a £100k-a-week player in the Premier League and the move is a good one for Diame.

Benitez would have perhaps liked a replacement through the door before allowing Diame to leave; his contract situation has not made that possible, however.