Newcastle United let Kevin Mbabu leave St James’ Park in 2017.
Rafa Benitez will be praying that Paul Dummett’s hamstrings hold up over the next eight months or so. Because Newcastle United’s failure to sign a new left-back in the summer transfer window means the Welshman is pretty much the only player in the squad capable of operating in the number three role.
Benitez was once again left frustrated by Newcastle’s failure to secure his top targets. The likes of Joe Bryan, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leighton Baines, Jorge and Nicolas Tagliafico were all linked but never arrived.
Tagliafico, the Argentine international who impressed at Ajax, would have cost just £8 million, but Newcastle still could not afford him according to the Chronicle.
So the Magpies’ decision to sell Kevin Mbabu, a full-back equally comfortable on either flank, for a minimal fee looks like a big mistake now. Particularly with the former St James’ academy graduate now thriving in Switzerland.
Mbabu helped Young Boys break the Basel stranglehold and win their first league title for 32 years in 2017/18. He was a revelation last season, earning his first Swiss call-up and sealing a place in the 2017 Team of the Year.
Now valued at £10 million, Marca stated that Newcastle were keen to re-sign the 23-year-old but, once again, nothing came to fruition. To think, the Magpies could have avoided all this drama if they had just kept Mbabu in the first place.
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