Aymen Abdennour has not once looked like a £22m defender at Valencia – meaning Newcastle United need to avoid.
Gary Neville endured a disastrous spell at Valencia
It’s not all Gary Neville’s fault that Valencia endured arguably the most humiliating season in their history in 2015/16. He, nor predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo or successor Pako Ayesteran, were helped by some truly astounding recruitment at the Mestalla.
Alvaro Negredo and Rodrigo barely looked like justifying their £25 million transfer fees while Aderlan Santos was one of the most error prone defenders in the whole of La Liga. However, none of Valencia’s raft of ill-judged signings were quite as bad as Aymen Abdennour. Why he’s reportedly interesting Newcastle United, according to FootMercato, is anyone’s guess.
The Tunisian was one of world football’s most highly rated defenders when he swapped Monaco for the Castellon coast for £22 million, as reported by the BBC. However, his debut season in Spain was an unmitigated disaster and left his reputation in tatters.
Abdennour started just 22 La Liga games but made error after error, more than once gifting a goal to the opposition after being caught dawdling around his own box. The season after, the 27-year-old started nine times in Spain’s top division with Manchester City disaster Eliaquim Mangala taking his place in the starting XI.
Therefore, Newcastle United should be glad that Abdennour has his heart set on a return to Ligue 1 rather than a summer move to the Premier League, as reported by AS.
Aymen Abdennour is one of the biggest flops in recent La Liga seasons
FootMercato claimed earlier in the week that The Magpies were keen as Rafael Benitez’s search for defensive reinforcements goes on. However, if his two season spell with Valencia is anything to go by, Abdennour could have followed in the footsteps of David Rozenhal, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Titus Bramble at St James’ Park.
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