... but now he is well on the way to 20 Premiership goals - everybody wants him!
If he reaches 20 goals, he will be the first Newcastle player to achieve it since Alan Shearer.
Ba has blown away concerns about his knee injury, and Alan Pardew says he doesn't get any "special treatment".
Alan Pardew: “We don’t do anything special.
“We don’t even give him a rest day. He’s not like Ledley King where he can’t train for three or four days.
"He trains as much as anyone else at the club."