Speculation has been rife that Nobby would be on his way from St James’ Park following the arrivals of Darren Ambrose and Lee Bowyer, but a couple of weeks ago Sir Bobby seemed to have quashed the rumours by saying that he has no intention of selling the Peruvian.
However he has now told the Evening Chronicle: "If we received an offer from Nobby we would consider it, although I don't really want him to go."
Whether or not this means that Sir Bobby is keen to sell is another matter. As five players have recently been put on the transfer list and Carl Cort has been offered to other clubs it would appear that the club’s policy on selling players is straightforward, and the comments could just mean that like any other player in the squad Nobby has his price.
But with two right-sided players arriving at United in the past few months and reports of an ongoing chase for Brett Emerton it could be that the club are trying to balance the books by offloading the former Boca Juniors star, particularly with a heavy international programme in South America in the offing.
At his best Nobby is one of the best players in the squad, scoring 29 goals in 160 Premiership appearances and creating many more for Alan Shearer. Although he didn’t have his best season last time out selling Nobby would surely be a backward step for the club - but of course recent seasons have proved that you have to trust Sir Bobby’s judgement.