Newcastle United’s Joey Barton hopes ‘iconic’ Kevin Nolan’s move to West Ham United breaks down

Joey Barton, Newcastle United (Getty Images)

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Joey Barton has said that he hopes Kevin Nolan’s move to West Ham United break down and believes the midfielder has ‘achieved iconic status’ at Newcastle.

Nolan looks set to move to Upton Park and team up with his former boss at Bolton Wanderers, Sam Allardyce.

On hearing the news earlier Barton could not hide his disappointment, tweeting: “Great player, leader, captain, person, trainer and mostly a friend for life. Devastated to see him SOLD! #mejoseandjonasnext.”

Speaking to Sky Sports later in the day, Barton again showed his disappointment at the prospect of Nolan leaving, saying that he hoped his move to West Ham broke down, before calling him a Newcastle icon for helping the club come back up from the Championship.

“Obviously it would be a great disappointment to lose Kev, he’s a great pal and I think he’s done fantastic for the football club, but this is the game we’re in unfortunately,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s a little about ships in the night. Me and Kevin will remain great friends beyond the boundaries of football for the rest of our lives, for the experiences we shared at the football club.

“As I say, hopefully the move breaks down, but if it doesn’t then you have to believe in the process of the football club and no one player is bigger than the football club.

When asked how much Nolan would be missed, he added: “It’s not really for me to say how much Kevin Nolan will be missed.

“He would be a massive loss to any club to achieve what he’s achieved in three years.

“I don’t know if I’m speaking a little bit untoward, but he’s achieved iconic status at the football club, not only for his three goals against Sunderland in the derby, but just for the way he held himself in and around the city and for the season he had in the Championship and also for the season he had last season, being able to bounce back, and I think he scored 12 Premier League goals which is a phenomenal achievement in any side, never mind a side that’s fighting for its life as we were for long parts of that season.”

Barton, who has one year left on his Newcastle contract, has been in negotiations with the club about a new deal.

He insists, though that he does not want to leave Tyneside, but admitted that it might be out of his hands.

He said: “I love the football club without a shadow of a doubt. I think that everyone knows that, I’ve got a great working relationship with the manager and a lot of the other sets of players and obviously a few of the senior players who have been there for the ups-and-downs.

“As far as I know, I’ll go back to Newcastle United and play until my contract runs out and they tell me that I’m no longer needed.

“I’ve got no ambitions to leave the football club, I don’t want to leave the football club.

“I’d love nothing more so than to win a trophy at Newcastle, the same way that a number of players have.

“Whether I get the opportunity to do that is out of my hands. I’m an employee of a football club and if they choose to do something else in the meantime and if I’m not wanted, I believe greatly enough in my own ability and in myself as a person to say ‘hang on, if you don’t want me at this football club, I’ll have to re-evaluate my options’.”

As for the future of Newcastle, Barton sounded pessimistic, but said he hoped to be proved wrong in the future.

He added: “Some of the things that are going on at the football club makes you just question it a little bit, but you’ve got to believe in the process, believe in the plan and believe that the manager knows what he’s doing and the Chairman knows what he’s doing, the owner knows what he’s doing.

“They could be doing the best moves ever and only in a year’s time or 18 month’s time will we know that.”