You may have missed it on a frustrating deadline day for NUFC, but Toon talent Rodrigo Vilca sealed a late loan move to Doncaster Rovers just 90 minutes before the window slammed shut.
The 22-year-old completed a move from Deportivo Municipal last October, arriving for a fee in the region of £225,000.
After a season with the U23s, he’s now set to spend the first half of the 2021/22 season in League One, although his debut for Doncaster didn’t exactly go to plan.
He was handed his first start and 63 minutes of action in an EFL Trophy clash with Rotherham on Tuesday night, which ended in a 6-0 defeat for Doncaster.
That said, there were some positives to take for the Peruvian, with several Rovers fans being left impressed by Vilca – who appeared to show glimpses of quality in the first half before fading in the second.
Here’s some of the comments we found from Doncaster fans at the game; which saw the NUFC talent come up against former Mag Dan Barlaser:
Vilca looks an exciting prospect. Decent debut from him.
2nd half was just a shambles, not attacking threat once Vilca went off.
He started the game well. Tricky, quick. Looks to have a good first touch and played some decent forward passes. Unfortunately we then conceded 3 quick goals and he went missing (with the rest of them). He looks promising though.
Vilca looks lively but we aren’t getting the ball to him.
He hasn’t misplaced a pass yet and has shown flashes on the ball. The problem so far is the lack of trust from his teammates. He keeps asking for the ball and doesn’t receive it.
Rodrigo Vilca is gonna be another Malik Wilks. Got the skill but ball greedy.
Young lad from Newcastle looks talented, but seems a bit lightweight and goes missing in patches. Promising debut in patches, mind.
Considering we kept ignoring him and got absolutely hammered, Vilca did alright there. Not bad for his debut in England.
Vilca looks a baller, but he also looks like a 22-year-old in a 16-year-olds body. Might get bulled in League One?
A few promising comments, especially when this was Vilca’s first game of senior football since arriving in England.
Doncaster currently sit bottom of League One, picking up just one point in their opening five games, so let’s hope their form can improve in the coming months to give Vilca the opportunity to show what he can do in the EFL.
