For the most part, Jonas Gutierrez’s return to Northeast England will be met with admiration and gratitude at the sight of a beloved teammate who is cancer-free after a battle with testicular cancer that at one point spread to other parts of his body.
His teammates had supported him on the pitch and off, including Papiss Cisse’s tee-shirt goal celebration. And Jonas ran a marathon while in the process of chemotherapy, which remains one of the most inspiring things we’ve read about in ages.
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Jonas is set to return to Newcastle in early December, but reports say his manager will have something tricky to deal with. On one hand, Alan Pardew will have a buoyant locker room with the return of the “original” Spiderman goal celebrator.
On the other is the knowledge that Jonas has said he will “never forgive” the manager for telling him to find a new club after an earlier return from cancer treatment, though he says Pardew’s choice was a footballing issue and had nothing to do with cancer or personality traits.
So Tweets award-winning broadcaster and “Goooooooool” screamer Andres Cantor:Jonas Gutiérrez on .@NUFC ‘s Alan Pardew on .@DiarioOle “I will never forgive him.I returned from chemotherapy & he told me to find a club”
— ANDRES CANTOR (@AndresCantorGOL) November 16, 2014
To be precise on Jonas’s Gutiérrez. “I am ever grateful to .@NUFC fans and my to my teammates. After my operation (for testicular cancer) +
— ANDRES CANTOR (@AndresCantorGOL) November 16, 2014
“Alan Pardew told me to find a new club. This was back in December.” My dream now is to play with my long hair again.” -Jonas
— ANDRES CANTOR (@AndresCantorGOL) November 16, 2014
For those .@NUFC interested on Jonas Gutiérrez plight, here is the full article. http://t.co/RJcnxiYxmG
— ANDRES CANTOR (@AndresCantorGOL) November 16, 2014
Jonas appeared nearly 200 times for Newcastle before falling out of favor with Pardew, and played just four times for Norwich on loan after Pardew’s “new club” moment. The Magpies have a load of midfielders, so it would be a challenge for Jonas to find a lot of playing time anyway, but what should be a strictly-joyous occasion could be a bit hampered. Here’s hoping Pardew handles it well.