John Carver loses Davide Santon but retains Moussa Sissoko

Newcastle’s John Carver loses Davide Santon but retains Moussa Sissoko

• Interim head coach happy with his deadline day
• Sissoko decides to stay at Newcastle United
• Davide Santon moves to Internazionale on loan



Davide Santon's position at Newcastle United always seemed vulnerable once Alan Pardew had left to manage Crystal Palace. 

John Carver lost an international full-back and welcomed no new faces but Newcastle United’s interim head coach will still be reasonably happy with his deadline day.

Any disappointment in seeing the club trim their wage bill by returning Davide Santon to Internazionale on loan while failing to recruit the centre-half and striker he wanted was offset by the realisation that Moussa Sissoko was not going anywhere.

After spending much of January informing the French media that interested clubs should contact his agent, Carver’s best midfielder discovered no one was willing to match the £20m asking price and revised his ambitions accordingly. “Newcastle is in my head,” Sissoko told French television on Monday. “I want to play Champions League football – with Newcastle if possible.”

If that delighted Alan Pardew’s successor, the bad news is that Santon’s departure with a view to completing a £3m transfer in May further reduces Carver’s defensive options. The Italy international, newly fit after nine months recovering from major knee surgery, could operate at right- or left-back and his exit debilitates a defence weakened by the long-term loss of the centre-half Steven Taylor with a ruptured achilles tendon.

Santon, one of only a handful of players signed at Pardew’s instigation, arrived in 2011 for £5.3m but a defender once dubbed “the new Paolo Maldini” has seen his progress interrupted by serious knee problems. Once Pardew left for Crystal Palace his position always seemed vulnerable.

The 24-year-old, who began his career at San Siro, where he became a particular favourite of José Mourinho, had been targeted by Roberto Mancini, the Inter coach.

The switch to a side who have slipped to 13th in Serie A since Mancini’s installation in November seemed to leave Santon with mixed feelings. “Life is strange,” he said before passing a medical. “I would never have imagined to come back. I wanted to thank Newcastle and all the fans … We have spent so many good times. This city and this team will always remain in my heart. You start a new chapter. I am happy to go back to Inter.”

His partner, Chloe Sanderson, was less sanguine. In tweets subsequently deleted, she wrote: “Davide was pushed out by Newcastle United. Disgusted with how Davide has been treated.” Newcastle deny Santon was forced out and maintain it was his choice to go.