ALL IN ALL, BA WORTH THE RISK

Despite some cautionary quotes from Alan Pardew earlier in the day, Demba Ba did indeed become a Newcastle United player on Friday.

The value of this signing from a Newcastle perspective will largely depend on the status of Ba's troublesome knee in the coming years (although it should be noted that, despite two failed medicals, Ba hasn't missed an alarming amount of games - at least because of the knee - over the years). But, seeing as though the contract is for three years and is reportedly incentive-laden, United seems to have done a fairly decent job of managing the risk.

If the 26-year-old Ba was brought in to be Newcastle's top striker, I'd be slightly less enthused. But the fact that United still appears to be hot on the trail of Mevlut Erding and, according to The Journal, will be pursuing a third forward as well makes me even more eager for the rest of the summer.

In other striker-related news, Mark Douglas reports (in the same story referenced above) that Newcastle is looking to sell Leon Best. Given his performances in the second half of last season, that decision looks incredibly harsh on the 24-year-old.

Keep in mind, though, that Best's value might never be higher -- does anyone honestly think he'll be able to repeat last year's goals-to-games ratio? And if he's going to be replaced by another striker of Ba's caliber, it's hard to argue.