Muto is yet to show Newcastle fans why he cost £9.5million.
Rafa Benitez has been quoted by the Northern Echo as defending summer signing Yoshinori Muto as the Japanese striker continues to struggle in proving his £9.5million transfer fee.
The 26-year-old has managed only 45 minutes of Premier League action so far, coming on as a substitute in Newcastle’s opening three Premier League fixtures. He was left on the bench for the defeat to Manchester City.
Given a chance in the Carabao Cup, the signing from German club Mainz struggled to carve out any chances as Newcastle suffered a 3-1 loss. Muto’s replacement, Salomon Rondon, scored.
Despite his difficult start, Benitez backed Muto to show his true colours after admitting that he had been forced to play the versatile striker in a slightly deeper role despite being fully aware that he is naturally a striker.
“I think he’s a striker,” Benitez said. “We are missing a couple of positions and he can play those so he has had to play in those. To be fair, he has been unlucky
“When he went on at Cardiff, we had to change the system and he had to go as a midfielder, and against Chelsea when we put him on the pitch, we changed to 4-1-4-1 at the end, so he had to go back too.
“He was not playing in his ideal position in the games he has played.”
Muto is currently with the Japan squad as they face two friendlies against South American sides Chile and Costa Rica. They face Chile on Friday night, before challenging Costa Rica on Tuesday.
Newcastle are next in action after the international break against Arsenal on September 15 at St. James’ Park, in what is another example of a torrid run of games that has included Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City.
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