Kluivert Off To Spain After Sorry Season At St James

Dutch International striker Patrick Kluivert has now completed his move to Spanish club Valencia on a free transfer.

 

The 28-year-old's move had been in doubt when Valencia expressed concerns over his left knee after a medical but those doubts have now been eased.  A brief Valencia statement commented: “"The player has passed the exam he was subjected to. Patrick, after signing his deal, will be unveiled next Monday."

 

Kluivert: 25 Premiership appearances; 6 goals

Kluivert’s career at St James Park failed to take off following his move from Barcelona last August.  His move caused consternation and confusion as the Magpies had already four strikers on their book at the time; and the Dutchman’s wages were to be £67,000. Reports also initially suggested that the strikers move to Newcastle had been enforced by the board which soured the already strained relationship between erstwhile boss Bobby Robson and chairman Freddy Sheperd.  

It was originally hoped that Kluivert would recapture his impressive goal scoring record that saw him bang in 115 goals for the Catalonia club inside 5 years.

Unfortunately Kluivert failed to impress and found himself frequently on the bench. But even with the departure and exile of the tempestuous Craig Bellamy, Kluivert remained on the bench and only managed 13 goals in 35 appearances and his departure was on the cards.

According to www.patrick-kluivert.com/ the Amsterdam born striker left St James due to a clause in his contract that  which stated that if “Newcastle would not finish in the top 10, the contract would be terminated.” Whether this was the reason for the departure or not, there will be some relief in the finance department at St James as Kluivert’s wage bill last season came to around £3.5m.  

There looks like little rest for the striker in the summer as the Spaniards Intertoto campaign is due to kick off relatively soon. Valencia, like the Toon Army, had a disappointing season where they missed out on automatic European spot by finishing 7^th.  This could see Kluivert facing his former team mates should both teams progress to one of the finals.