As reported earlier today, Newcastle United are set to beat two giants of football in Real Madrid and Barcelona for the signing of Spanish sensation Antonio Cordero.
With silverware acquired and Champions League football well within our sights this is no longer the Newcastle of old.
If this is a sign of things to come – more and more players favouring a move to Tyneside over an established top side – the future will certainly be bright for the Magpies.
How Cordero fits into Newcastle’s plans
There’s a lot of excitement surrounding Cordero considering the calibre of clubs who were watching him, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to set the world alight as soon as he steps foot in the North East.
As we’ve seen so often with Eddie Howe, especially with younger players, there tends to be a transition period to help bed players in and get them settled before playing regular first-team football.
We can assume that was the plan with Yankuba Minteh who enjoyed a productive spell on loan at Feyenoord before financial restrictions forced our hand in moving him on to Brighton last summer.
Similar to Minteh, Cordero is set to be sent out on loan almost immediately to gain valuable first-team experience which, according to Craig Hope, it’s believed that he would not be able to get at Newcastle.
The youngster is not deemed to be at a first-team level just yet and therefore will need to develop his talents elsewhere.
Why Cordero should not follow Minteh’s footsteps
In a team that has been desperately crying out for a new right winger for years, it was disappointing to see a top, young prospect like Minteh be shipped out to a fellow Premier League side where he has enjoyed a lot of game time and shown real flashes of quality.
But there’s little evidence to suggest Cordero will follow the same path – our financial position is much stronger than it was 12 months ago when we narrowly avoided a potential points deduction.
There are no rumours as to where the 18-year-old may be loaned to, but if he can build on the quality he has shown at Malaga in the last couple of years we could be looking at a really special player in the not-too-distant future.
You’ve actually written an article on what we plan to do with a player we haven’t bought?
Daveys **** mate(Quote)