Valentino Lazaro has far from happy with his bench-warming role at Newcastle United and is doubting whether a permanent move from Inter Milan would be the right move, according to the Chronicle.
Maybe a spell at St James’ Park just came at the wrong time for the Austrian international.
Lazaro understandably needed to get up to speed once he had arrived back in January, having spent the previous six months gathering dust on the San Siro sidelines.
But, just when it looked as if he was finding his stride, the Premier League season was put on ice for three months.
Lazaro has started just one of eight games since the re-start, relegated to the bench once again thanks to the impressive form of Emil Krafth and Allan Saint-Maximin on the right-hand side.
As a result, the Chronicle reports that the former Hertha Berlin speedster is now allegedly getting cold feet about the prospect of staying on Tyneside with talks over a potential £20 million move set to get underway next week.
This comes amid claims from the Northern Echo that Newcastle have a replacement lined up already – the long-serving Marseille favourite Bouna Sarr.
“It’s been really difficult, because of the lockdown situation. He probably hasn’t played as much as he would like,” Steve Bruce told the Chronicle after Lazaro managed just four minutes in Monday’s dour goalless draw with Brighton and Hove Albion.
“I think he’s just getting used to playing in the Premier League, but now it’s finishing. I’m sure he’ll be disappointed with the amount of game time he’s had, but, look, up until two, three games ago, the team were playing very, very well, and he couldn’t find his way into it.”
As it stands, Lazaro has made just three starts for Newcastle, managing as many red cards as he has goals.
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