Mo Diamé has some interesting things to say about Newcastle | OneFootball

In a revealing interview, former Newcastle midfielder Mohamed Diamé has opened up about his exit from the club, owner Mike Ashley and ex-manager Rafael Benítez.

Diamé left the Magpies this summer after three years at the club and is now playing for Qatari side Al Ahli.

And the 32-year-old has explained how he came to leave St James’ Park.

“The club decided at the beginning of the year to give me a new contract, after they decide to wait because we were not really well in the table,” Diamé told beIN Sports.

“The time did not help us.

“At the end, when they decide to give me one-more year, I prefer and take the decision to leave because I did not want to play another year ending a contract because it is not really good for a football player.

“You are always thinking about injury.”

Diamé previously played under Steve Bruce at Hull City and when asked whether he would have been more inclined to stay if he knew his old boss was coming, he said: “Maybe, to be honest I had a really good relationship with Rafa Benítez.

“He wasn’t all about Rafa Benítez. He was amazing with me. It wasn’t about who was the manager but more about the chairman and Lee Charnley who make the decisions but of course I would have been happy to play under Steve Bruce.”

But when asked who was at fault for Benítez’s departure from St James’ Park this summer, the Senegal midfielder refused to point the finger at Mike Ashley.

“It is difficult for me to talk about things I don’t really understand, and I don’t want to judge.

“I met the chairman when we had the dinner with team and he talked to us about his life, and I had a good feeling with him.

“I can’t judge on something I don’t know a lot about, I can’t say whether it was Rafa’s fault or the chairman’s fault because I don’t know.

“I really felt that when Rafa arrived at Newcastle, and when he called me to go to Newcastle, he told me he had a big challenge, and big ambition for this club to get it back where it used to be.

“For me it’s a massive club – outside of the big four, Newcastle for me is the best club in England.

“Now I’m not surprised that NUFC fans are not happy with what is being said.

“Newcastle deserve the best but if in the next two or three years they want to get back there – they will have to do something and get names.

“It is what every single team at the top is doing – Manchester City, Liverpool even Tottenham now are spending a lot, you have to spend, it is football, the football of today.”