The Mexican will not be displaying his mesmeric passing range at St James’ Park.
Hector Herrera has insisted that he wants to stay at Porto beyond the January transfer window, according to The Chronicle, delivering a blow to Newcastle United’s hopes of replacing the midfield creativity of Jonjo Shelvey.
The Magpies went down 1-0 to Blackburn Rovers in their first fixture of 2017 on Monday, Charlie Mulgrew’s second half winner ensuring they have been on the losing side in two of their three Championship games since Shelvey was sentenced to a five-game ban for racially abusing Wolves’ Romain Saiss.
Jack Colback and Isaac Hayden once again lined up in the centre of the midfield at Ewood Park but, for the third match running, failed to provide the expansive distribution and vision stripped from the side by the 24-year-old’s absence.
However, if Rafa Benitez is aiming to replace the influential Shelvey in January, he will be wasting his time making a bid for Mexican international Herrera who, according to The Chronicle, would prefer to fight Benfica for the title in Portugal rather than rejuvenate Newcastle’s Championship title push.
Last month, the same publication claimed The Magpies had sent scouts to watch the box-to-box midfielder in action with Benitez reportedly keen on making a move for a player who he tried to sign at Napoli, per Football Italia.
The 26-year-old’s impressive range of passing and ability to dictate tempo from a deep-lying midfield position means he may well have been the ideal replacement for Shelvey in the starting line-up and far better suited to the demands of the role than reported target Tom Cleverley, a comparatively safe user of the ball.
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