By Andrew Campbell
Forgotten man Achraf Lazaar appears to be close to the exit door, with The Chronicle now claiming that Italian side Genoa are in talks over a loan deal with an option to buy the Moroccan left-back.
Nothing has been agreed as of yet, but Rafa’s willingness to sell given our total shortage at full-back says it all..
Despite only featuring 4 times for the club and being loaned out last season, it was thought he may have been given a chance to resurrect his NUFC career due to he lack of cover in the left back area.
He’s clearly not fancied by Rafa however, having not featuring at all in pre season and not even being given a squad number. Given how desperate Benitez was for a left-back on deadline day, this just shows how little he’s impressed him since signing two years ago!
This line from The Chronicle’s latest piece on the defender says it all.
“He vowed to do his utmost to force his way back into the first team squad but has not featured in pre-season as United look to push him out of the door”
It’s difficult to see where it all went wrong for the defender who signed with so much promise 2 years ago from Italian side Palermo, with us said to have beaten off interest from Fiorentina to sign him back in the summer of 2016.
It’s hard to comment on his footballing ability when we’ve seen so little of him, but Rafa’s judgement would seem to tell us all we need to know – although I’m starting to wonder how he can go from wanting him signed to wanting him nowhere near his team in the space of months.
Maybe Italian football will be most suited to him – although last season’s loan move to Benevento didn’t exactly go too well (he was let go early, slated by their press and they ended up getting relegated).
Either way, we wish him all the best if a move does go through!
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