Some interesting news coming from Spain today, as former Sunderland and current Atletico Madrid defender Javier Manquillo is believed to be ‘on the verge’ of signing a three-year deal with Newcastle, as Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo claim the defender is set to travel to Tyneside to complete his medical in the ‘coming hours’.
The 23-year-old is currently on the books of Atletico Madrid, however has struggled for game time with the Spanish giants and set to move on in search of first-team football after spending the last three seasons on loan at Liverpool, Marseille and most recently Sunderland – where he played 22 times last season.
Manquillo is a former Spain U-21 International and, should these rumours prove to be true, could arrive for a cut-price fee given he is entering the final year of his contract in Madrid.
With Vurnon Anita and Kevin Mbabu leaving the club this summer, Newcastle have limited options to cover DeAndre Yedlin at right-back. Jesus Gamez and Jamie Sterry are options, however their lack of involvement last season suggests Rafa would be reluctant to rely on either.
Other than his pace and attacking style of play, Manquillo would arrive as a fairly unknown quantity, however he does have youth on his side, two years of Premier League experience and is believed to be capable of playing at right-back or left-back, so his arrival may just be a shrewd one given our need for full-back reinforcements.
Here he is in action against Real Madrid 3 years ago:
