The NUFC trio whose loans away from St. James’ Park have taken a turn for the worse

After failing to make a real impact on Tyneside, Newcastle United trio Adam Armstrong, Matz Sels and Achraf Lazaar were sent out on loan this summer, however their time away from St. James’ Park is hardly going to plan thus far. Here’s why:

Adam Armstrong

The 20-year old struggled to make an impact in the second tier during a loan spell with Barnsley last season, so was sent out to newly promoted Championship side Bolton this summer in an attempt to develop and impress Rafa Benitez.

From what I’ve seen, Bolton are not a footballing side, tending to play quite directly which does anything but suit the diminutive Armstrong.

He’s scored 2 in 11 appearances and is often finding himself coming on from the bench or cutting an isolated figure up top for a side rock bottom of the Championship.

You hope to see youngsters play every week when sent out on loan and he isn’t. Whilst justifying his place in the side each weekend is up to him, he’s not helped by the fact he appears to be at a team that do anything but play to his strengths.

Matz Sels

The Belgian stopper was loaned to Anderlecht over the summer in a bid to regain some much needed confidence after quickly slipping down the pecking order at Newcastle.

The Belgian Champions recently sacked the man who brought him to the club, Rene Weiler, and since then he’s sat out their cup game in midweek AND their league game at Waasland-Beveren on Saturday, suggesting interim boss Nicolas Frutos doesn’t quite fancy him.

It’ll be interesting to see if he can get back in the team, but it’s an unideal turn of events for a keeper hoping to re-establish himself after a nightmare 12 months at NUFC.

Achraf Lazaar

Lazaar secured a loan move to Serie A side Benevento on deadline day and described the move as ‘ending his nightmare’ at Newcastle.

If his opening few games for the Italian club are anything to go by however, his bad dream hasn’t ended just yet.

He was said to have ‘disappeared’ in a post-match report that handed him a rating of 4.5 in a 6-0 defeat to Napoli on his debut, and since then his new side have lost 4-0 to Roma and 2-0 once again over the weekend.

Like Armstrong, his side sit bottom of the league and he’s done anything but impress, being hauled off before the hour mark twice in just three starts so far.

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About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

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