Miguel Almiron will NOT take part in Newcastle United’s pre-season trip to China according to Bein Sports’ Roberto Rojas, with him set to return for the club’s friendlies at the end of the month instead.
This means the Paraguayan won’t travel out with the squad this weekend and will sit out of our Premier League Asia Trophy clash with Wolves next Wednesday, also missing our following game next Saturday against either Man City or West Ham.
The 25-year-old has been on holiday in his homeland, with him being handed an extended break following his involvement in this summer’s Copa America, however it now seems he won’t be returning to pre-season training as early as initially expected:
This is a shame, with our squad now set to be without Perez, Rondon and Almiron for our Asia Trophy clash with Wolves next week, seeing us rely on the likes of Murphy and Atsu instead.
That said, this break for Almiron could benefit us in the long term given his injury-riddled end to the season and the busy summer he’s endured so far.
He starred in Paraguay’s run to the Copa America knockout stages, bagging a few impressive assists and tearing Argentina apart, but a break will be needed for him given he’s not long come back from a season-ending hamstring injury.
Let’s hope he comes back fresh and ready to hit the ground running, with him likely to be one of our few match winners and rays of hope heading into the new season.