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Newcastle United target Oliver Ntcham is reported to have made his future plans crystal clear after a move from Celtic to AEK Athens collapsed.

Ntcham’s departure from the Scottish club has been rumoured heavily over the past 12 months after he declared he wanted out of the club. TEAMtalk revealed last summer that Southampton were keen on taking him south of the border.

Further interest was registered by West Brom, Lyon and Marseille. And it was the latter where he ended up – albeit only on-loan and in February of this year.

The move sparked controversy as then manager Andre Villas-Boas handed in his resignation following it’s completion. The former Tottenham boss did not want the signing to be made.

The Frenchman’s return to his country of birth did not get any better after that. He played just 207 minutes of football whilst in Marseille (stats via Transfermarkt).

With just a year remaining on his contract, it appeared a permanent exit from Celtic Park was on the cards.

There were suggestions the club would terminate his contract and let him leave for free. And one team that this caught the attention of was the Magpies.

Steve Bruce is not blessed with a massive transfer budget at his disposal this summer. As such, Ntcham looked like a perfect piece of business.

Reports claimed the Toon manager is a fan of the former France Under-21 international.

However, the situation has taken a drastic U-turn. According to SportTime, Ntcham’s representatives have made it clear he wants to stay in Glasgow during discussions with AEK.

The Greek side were attempting to revive talks that had previously ended in failure. It was said to be a last-ditch effort to make the move happen.

In response, they received the message that Ntcham will not be going anywhere this summer. Therefore, the Magpies will not have the chance to bring him to the Premier League.

Ntcham’s position backed up by Postecoglou

Ntcham featured in Celtic’s 2-0 behind closed doors friendly win against Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

And after the game new manager Ange Postecoglou reaffirmed the midfielder’s stance on his future.

He said: “I had chats with him and he said he wanted to come back and make an impression this year.

“I take that at face value. He has been good at training. He is lacking a bit of match touch and fitness but he is part of the squad and hopefully he can make an impact this year.”

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