Babayaro accepts Magpies exit

Defender to leave before contract expires

Last updated: 10th December 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Babayaro accepts Magpies exit

Babayaro: Leaving Newcastle

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Celestine Babayaro has agreed a deal to have the remainder of his Newcastle United contract paid up.

The defender has not played for manager Sam Allardyce this season due to hamstring and back-related problems.

Allardyce has now opted to cut the Nigerian loose after settling on a deal for Babayaro to leave St James' Park before his contract was due to expire at the end of the season.

The left-back has not played for the Magpies since the end of March and he has made just 47 Premier League appearances during almost three years on Tyneside.

The 29-year-old arrived at St James' Park in January 2005 in a £1million switch from Chelsea as then-manager Graeme Souness looked to strengthen his back four.

However, he was rarely able to produce his best form on a consistent basis and never truly won over the club's supporters.

But he did earn their applause in February when he turned out for the club in their 2-1 league win over Liverpool, after which Glenn Roeder revealed that his younger brother David had died just hours earlier.