Dramatic £6m Newcastle United transfer explained amid Aston Villa U-turn

Ryan Taylor has opened up on his dramatic move to Newcastle United during the 2009 January transfer window.

Taylor moved to St James’ Park as part of a reported £6.5million deal that allowed Charles N’Zogbia to join Wigan Athletic in the other direction.

At one stage however, it didn’t look as though the deal would be finalised. As the deadline neared, Taylor was named in the starting XI for the Latics’ trip to Aston Villa.

As a result, Taylor took matters into his own hands in order to pursue a “chance of a lifetime.”

“I said to my agent, ‘I need to get off this bus,’” Taylor told ‘Ladbrokes Fanzone’. “This was the chance of a lifetime for me. I wasn’t going to miss out on it. I said to him, ‘You’re going to have to follow this bus, because I’m not missing this move.’

“So my agent follows our team bus down the M6 and pulls up at a service station when he must have got a phone call. I basically ended up jumping off the team bus on the way to the game at this service station on the M6 - and off we shot back up the road. No hesitation. Not much negotiating. Bang. Done.

“I think Steve Bruce knew what was going on that day with my agent driving behind us. We pulled over in this service station and everyone’s wondering what’s going on, but Steve must have known because there was just too much talk going on at the time about the deal.

“I think the main reason everything was held up was because Charles was negotiating his own personal terms.

“I’m sitting on this bus, though, and obviously I know my agent is right behind us. Next thing you know, Steve Bruce just shouts: ‘Taylor! Off!’ And I’ve leapt up, giving high-fives to all the boys. See you, boys!’”

The move worked out for both parties with Taylor best known for his winning free-kick in Wear-Tyne derby win at Sunderland in 2011.