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Lomana Lua Lua is widely reported to have made the following comments.
"Although I've been happy with the way things are going for me here at Newcastle, at the moment I'm frustrated by the limited chances I've had this season.
"I feel sharp and ready but the manager has been sticking with Craig Bellamy and Alan Shearer for the last few matches and that's hard to take because I don't know why I lost my place in the team.
"Having scored three goals in five games at the start of the season I was disappointed to find myself watching from the sidelines for our next four matches.
"And when I got back in the team against Feyenoord last month it was very surprising to be told I wasn't even in the squad for the trip to Blackburn.
"I understand that the manager chooses the team and he might have favourite players for certain games, but I thought I had done enough to justify my place in the team.
"I'm not saying the manager is wrong, but it's frustrating to be dropped because all I want to do is play football."
The quotes were often accompanied by the story that West Ham and Spurs are interesting in signing him.
Sir Bobby has admitted though that Hugo is becoming increasingly frustrated with his lack of first team opportunities.
"Hugo is a little bit discontented because he is not playing," Sir Bobby told the Sunday Sun.
"He knows he is good enough to play, and I know that. But we bought him for the squad and for the future.
"I have seen him a couple of times and I have had to explain the situation to him. He has accepted it and his head has not gone down.
"I have told him to be patient and to be happy here. He is here for five years, he has a five-year contract and I've told him not to come and see me and be miserable because it won't make any difference.
"It is not easy keeping all these young players happy.
"They have come to a big club to play and develop their futures and the only way they can do that is if they play.
"But I have told them they have to think long-term," he added.
I certainly wouldn’t want to lose Hugo and his frustration is understandable as he is now first choice for Portugal, but whether or not Sir Bobby will choose to select him ahead of Speed or Robert remains to be seen.
As for Lua Lua, I don’t particularly want to lose him but he’s not ready to be first choice yet and Michael Chopra is coming through. So Lomana may not be patient enough to stay at St James' and learn from Alan Shearer, which would be a greater loss for him than us.
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