In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, former NUFC winger Andros Townsend admits that he had hoped to stay at Newcastle for a number of years.
The 25 year-old was signed by the Magpies in the January transfer window in 2016, however, following the club’s relegation that summer, left for Crystal Palace in order to remain in the Premier League.
Newcastle made an attempt to resign the winger in January this year, with Andros struggling for game time under Sam Allardyce, however, Benitez was left disappointed as the club failed to strike a deal.
Two months later, Townsend has fought his way back into Allardyce’s plans at Selhurt Park and has recently spoke out about his time on Tyneside:
“I was at Tottenham and I’ve had all the loan spells and then I went to Newcastle and said ‘I want to stay here for a few years’ but unfortunately that didn’t work out and I had to move to stay in the Premier League.”
“Everything was so positive (at Newcastle).”
“It’s just the one negative that we (Newcastle) didn’t stay in the Premier League.”
“I was signed to help them stay up and it didn’t happen.”
“The main thing I took from that is that a team is never too good to go down.”
“Maybe last season we were looking around thinking ‘we’ve got good players, we’ll be all right’ and in the end we weren’t.”
It must be said, Townsend was brilliant in his short spell with Newcastle and it was a real shame he felt unable to drop down a division with the club.
After all, the club had given him the chance to resurrect his career, but his International hopes with England and desire to remain in the Premier League proved too much of a pull for the winger.
It is no secret that Rafa Benitez is a big fan of Townsend, who clearly has one eye on being reunited with the 25 year-old.
While I, like most fans, felt let down by him jumping ship following relegation, I would have him back in a heartbeat should we gain promotion back to the Premier League this summer.
