Both Sebastien Bassong and Habib Beye WANTED to leave Newcastle for "success and better money" elsewhere.
OK, so be it ... but why should we take them back now they cannot get regular first team football?
Beye is available on a free transfer from Aston Villa with his contract at Villa Park set to expire at the end of the season, and it is unlikely that he has a future in Birmingham.
And Bassong, who United picked up £8m for two years ago, is understood to be available for half of the price he was sold for during the Chris Hughton era.
A Toon source said today: “There are other priorities at the moment rather than Sebastien Bassong and Habib Beye .
“The manager is focusing on getting in the striker he needs.
“And the fact that a left-back is needed in the event of Jose Enrique leaving is also not lost on anybody here.
“It is very much a case of judging Newcastle’s business when the window is closed.”