Newcastle United really need a creative midfielder and £18m Sevilla outcast Rony Lopes could be the man – despite his lack of La Liga minutes.
It is six weeks now since Newcastle United were first linked with a January move for Sevilla winger Rony Lopes, as reported by The Chronicle.
At the time, the former Manchester City youngster was struggling to make an impression in La Liga, despite joining Julen Lopetegui’s side from Monaco in an £18 million deal which made him one of the most expensive acquisitions in their history (Marca).
But if Lopes was a little frustrated with his lack of game time back in mid-September, a penny for his thoughts now. Sevilla have played 11 La Liga games this season but the Portugal international has appeared in just one of those – an 11 minute cameo off the bench during a 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo in August.
Lopes has not featured in any of the seven league matches since the links with Newcastle emerged and, to make matters even worse, he has been left out of Lopetegui’s matchday squad four times too in the last month-and-a-half.
It is not hard to imagine that Lopes would make a big difference in a Newcastle team lacking any sort of cutting edge or quality in the final third, having laid on 17 goals and 12 assists for Monaco in the 2017/18 season, but the signs suggest that he’s not going to escape his Sanchez Pizjuan purgatory any time soon.
Speaking to El Desmarque this week, former Real Madrid coach Lopetegui has seemingly ruled out the prospect of an early departure for Lopes.
“We do not think of anyone’s exit. We think that the maximum possible number of players can help us.”
It’s going to be a long, hard season – for both Lopes and Newcastle.
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