Victor Fernandez – a name that won’t mean much to most NUFC fans, but the 20-year-old Spaniard could be one of the main men to watch over pre-season this summer.
The Barcelona-born winger arrived at the club from UE Cornella at the beginning of last year and immediately started impressing at U-23 level. His pace, trickery and dribbling with the ball stood out whenever I went down to watch the reserves at St James’ Park, and it seems Benitez has high hopes for him too.
Rafa has included him in first team training sessions many a time, also inviting him to recent training camps in Ireland and Spain – with him recently putting in an impressive 45-minute cameo during our friendly with Royal Antwerp in March.
A few months on and he’s continuing to impress. Not only was he part of the Under-23 side that won the Hong Kong Soccer Sevens’ tournament over the weekend, he was named the player of the tournament as well – an achievement that will not have unnoticed if your name’s Rafael Benitez:
Congratulations to #NUFC winger Victor Fernández, who has been named @hksoccer7s player of the tournament! ?
?? https://t.co/GjcJNQdJU5 pic.twitter.com/UwFUo6xP5B
— Newcastle United FC (@NUFC) May 21, 2018
Benitez is clearly keen to improve the quality of player arriving into our U-23 system, and Fernandez looks as likely as any players I’ve seen recently to make the step up to first-team level over the coming years.
He’ll almost certainly travel to this summer’s pre-season camp in Ireland and will be one to watch during our friendlies in the coming months.
We’ve become used to seeing youngsters fail to breakthrough at NUFC over recent years, but I’ve got a good feeling about Fernandez – a player I believe has the ability to buck that trend.