Newcastle United's summer signings Bazoumana Toure and Aladji Bamba are following a prepared plan of action put in place after their big-money moves to St James' Park, according to those close to the Toon camp. Toure arrived for £43 million from Hoffenheim, while Bamba cost £35 million from Monaco but has played just 27 minutes in a Newcastle shirt. Toure has played 186 minutes for the Magpies and has two goals to his name, with dreams of many more under Matthias Jaissle, who likes him a lot.
Gradual Path to First-Team Stardom
Chronicle Live spoke to sources close to the United camp who insist that their gradual path to first-team stardom was always on the cards. Both were signed as players that sporting director Ross Wilson felt were not ready to make an immediate impact on Tyneside, with a "two-season window" more realistic as far as their progress is concerned.
Toure is currently focused on international duty with the Ivory Coast, who face Gambia in an African Cup of Nations qualifier tonight, while Bamba plays for France U21s against Italy. Those close to him in the Ivory Coast camp say that he has not changed his behaviour since making the switch to the Premier League and remains as polite as he has ever been.
Exemplary Behaviour On and Off the Field
One of the things that Ivory Coast manager Herve Renard admires about Toure is his ability to carry out instructions from staff, and he tries in training to show he deserves to be in the squad rather than acting like an established international player who has 10 caps and three goals on the international stage.
A source told Chronicle Live: "Bazoumana likes to earn respect through his hard work. He is punctual in training and he will agree to be on the bench without a negative attitude. He has been exemplary on and off the field and doesn't even think of trying to show he is better than others - he just tries to continue as usual to the team. Off the pitch he likes to look after himself, knows he has an image to maintain and carefully chooses his surroundings."
Maturity in the Face of Provocation
The Bouake-born player is believed to be streetwise on the pitch and has not been drawn into any escalating situations in the Premier League. Rewind back to the 2-0 win at Tottenham Hotspur when he entered the field of play in the 89th minute and within seconds found himself confronted by Pedro Porro, who appeared to make a gesture about his price tag. Porro tried to turn Toure around and look at the name on the shirt as if he was questioning his status.
Those close to him say: "He has been told about having emotional intelligence. It is very important in football. He knows how to control those emotions and won't respond to just anything." As it turned out, Toure simply smiled and walked away from a heated exchange, knowing his team were 2-0 to the good and on course for three points. It was noted by Jaissle and the staff and deemed a sign of his maturity, boding well for the future.
Patience Over Panic
Like Bamba, Toure is waiting for an opportunity, with the word quite simple on what happens next, with Chronicle Live told: "It's an integration. The staff see fit to go slowly and they believe they will progress better." Jaissle echoed as much over the weekend when talking about Bamba, Toure and Sean Steur, commenting: "I think anybody who has been here a long time now in the Premier League, knows that it needs adaptation time when you sign such young players who were not here before in the Premier League. It starts with the physicality, with the adaptation; you spoke about the intensity in these matches, and they are now in that process to improve in the training sessions. Here and there they get the minutes, then they can also shine already and this is now what we ask from them and what we can do for them, just supporting and taking them by the hand and ensuring where they can improve. Then if you're comfortable, it's the right time."
So the watchword for both players is patience not panic, and the price tags can justify themselves later. That proved to be the case for the likes of Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento, who were signed for £28m and £32m respectively under Eddie Howe. The current direction of the club suggests that waiting for the right time to blood the summer signings will be worth the wait.
