Facundo Ferreyra failed to appear once when on loan with Newcastle.
Newcastle United’s hunt for a striker has been somewhat of a failure, as Mike Ashley’s tight stronghold on the Toon coffers has seen bids fail for multiple strikers. It will be painful to see Facundo Ferreyra scoring in the Champions League, then.
Ashley has prevented Rafa Benitez from luring the likes of Nicolai Jorgensen, Daniel Sturridge and many more to St. James’ Park this season, with the Toon having to settle with the loan signing of Islam Slimani.
The Algerian is yet to feature for Newcastle and faces a race against time to be fit in time for this weekend’s clash against Eddie Howe’s AFC Bournemouth. Toon fans will be livid, then as ex-Toon flop Ferreyra scored on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old scored his 23rd goal of the season from just 30 league and cup outings in the Champions League’s Round of 16 against Italian giants Roma, as his side Shakhtar Donetsk earned a 2-1 win at home.
But Ferreyra’s strike will be painful viewing for Newcastle fans, as the Argentina youth international failed to make a single Newcastle appearance when he moved to St. James’ Park fro Shakhtar on loan for the 2014-15 season.
He made the bench three times throughout the entire Premier League campaign, but was instead forced to play for the Toon second string in which he scored only once in eight games.
Newcastle fans reacted on Twitter to Ferreyra’s goal for Shakhtar, with one fan asking “if we’ll ever find out the truth” – and blaming former boss Alan Pardew for failing to play him.
It is obvious that Newcastle made a mistake with the Shakhtar goal machine, as he continues to shine in the Champions League after already scoring against Manchester City and Feyenoord this season.
Now well out of their price range, fans will be dreaming of what could have been with Ferreyra leading their attack if they had at least given him a chance during his season-long loan.
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