It looks like Rodrigo Vilca has left Newcastle United and sealed his second loan move of the season.
Photos have emerged from South America of the 22-year-old holding up the Universitario de Deportes shirt, with reporters in his homeland claiming he’s joined the Peruvian side until the end of the season.
The attacking midfielder spent the first half of the 2021/22 season with Doncaster Rovers and has been playing for the club’s U23s ever since that six-month loan deal expired in January.
Vilca joined NUFC from Deportivo Municipal – another side in Peru’s top flight – back in October 2020 for £225,000 and still has over to years remaining on his contract.
Elsewhere, it looks like an ongoing issue with Jamal Lewis‘ groin may have been the reason he was axed from Eddie Howe’s 25-man squad last month.
The NUFC boss has confirmed that the former Norwich City star is currently being assessed by a groin specialist in Germany, with The Mail’s Craig Hope reporting that he’ll undergo surgery ‘this week’ on an issue that’s being bothering the left-back for ‘over a year’ now.
Here’s what Howe said yesterday when asked about our forgotten £15m man who was replaced by Matt Targett in January:
“I said when I left Jamal out of the 25-man squad, he’s had injury problems.
“At the moment, he’s in Germany getting assessed and looked at by a groin specialist.”
