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Football

25th Mar 2015

Jonas Gutierrez can’t forgive Newcastle over how they handled his cancer diagnosis

The Argentinian is back playing with the club but he remains unhappy with the way the Magpies treated him

Sean Nolan

The 31-year-old spoke to Canal Plus this week

The return to first-team action of Jonas Gutierrez after beating testicular cancer has been one of the feel-good stories of the season.

And while his health and his career being back on track are great news, Gutierrez remains angry about how the club treated his cancer diagnosis.

“I won’t be able to forgive the way I’ve been treated. I returned mid-November [2013] and, at the beginning to mid-December, the manager said I should find myself another club.

“That it was best. I understand a lot of things about football – that, well, that for the directors, it is a business, no?

“It is clear that they look after the club’s interests, but I think in a situation like that, you need to [consider] other things, even more if you see I had been playing for five years before having this problem. I was always playing.”

As for the costs, Gutierrez was clear that he paid for everything.

“I never asked for anything,” he said. “I paid for it because for me, the most important thing, as I told you, was my health. If they thought it was okay to do it that way, then it’s okay. I never asked for anything, and that’s it. I wasn’t interested.”

And, whatever his feelings towards the club, Gutierrez was clear that he still had a lot of time for the fans.

“The people from Newcastle, the fans, have behaved amazingly,” he said. “When I go around the city, they congratulate me and say I’m looking very well. They are very emotive words that make you very proud when you hear them. People have been so concerned for me, and they’ve sent me those messages.”

Hat-tip to the London Independent

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