Nightmare for Newcastle trio - Serious questions set to be asked of loan department?
One of the core aims of the current Newcastle United project has been to put a spotlight not only on the club’s current crop of youngsters, but to recruit youth talent with big potential.
Yankuba Minteh was signed, loaned out and sold, and a move for Aussie talent Garang Kuol didn't work out, although there are other exciting youngsters hoping to move up to first-team level in the coming years.
Three of those are Spanish winger Antonio Cordero, Norwegian midfielder Travis Hernes and England youth international Trevan Sanusi. However, questions are now being asked about our loan set-up, as the trio struggle for minutes following summer moves...
Toon trio struggling for minutes
This past gameweek, each of Antonio Cordero, Travis Hernes and Trevan Sanusi were absent from their loan clubs’ games, as each youngster’s tough time across Europe continues.
Cordero was dropped completely from Westerlo’s match day squad prior to their 2-0 loss away to Sporting Charleroi. The Spaniard has managed to record just 83 minutes from six appearances so far in the league this season.
He's played just FOUR minutes of league football over the last seven weeks and has missed out on the Belgian side's squad in three of their last four games.
Somehow, Hernes has endured an even more barren run of games in the neighbouring Netherlands, with the Norwegian failing to play a single minute for Groningen in the Eredivisie.
Hernes has picked up a knock recently, but he was in Groningen's squad for six weeks in a row and never came on. His only action so far has been a 60-minute outing for their Under-21 side, offering youth minutes that he could've got had he remained on Tyneside.
Last but not least, a loan spell at Lorient has been tough so far for Sanusi. On this occasion, he's not been dropped or left on the bench, but instead has missed nine Ligue 1 games in a row due to an ankle injury, meaning he's yet to make his debut.
What can be done to fix current loan issues?
Unless you’re already an established youngster with Premier League or Champions League-level experience, then a loan move should feel like the most sensible option for a youngster at Newcastle United.
But these excursions to some of Europe’s top leagues, though not the elite levels of the Bundesliga, Serie A and La Liga, may be doing more harm than good for almost all of our rising prospects. Only Yankuba Minteh has left on loan (Feyenoord) and come back to England looking like an improved player.
CEO David Hopkinson is in the midst of a 100-day review of the club's inner workings, and you suspect the loan department will face some awkward questions on recent failings, with Garang Kuol and Miodrag Pivas recently suffering equally frustrating spells away in previou seasons.
For Cordero, we know there’s an in-demand player in there: with some welcome performances at the U-19 EUROs over the summer, and the knowledge that each of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid wanted to sign him, a spell back in his native Spain for a credible La Liga side would perhaps be the best move here.
Sanusi meanwhile feels like a player who was on the precipice of receiving first team minutes in some capacity, but the 18-year-old has struggled with injuries since.
As for Hernes, the Norwegian is a talented midfielder who was playing in the EFL with Shrewsbury when we signed him. Now, he's not got a single minute of senior action with Groningen, only featuring for their Under-21s so far. For a 20-year-old with ambitions of playing in our first team, this feels like a backwards step.
