OPINION
With Rafael Benitez reportedly making it a key priority for Newcastle United to sign a new right-back it must have DeAndre Yedlin sweating over his status as a guaranteed starter.
The speedy full-back featured in 34 of the Magpies’ 38 Premier League matches in the 2017/18 season and had next to no competition when it came to his place in the team.
Yedlin registered two assists in his outings but while his displays were mostly up to the standard required of him, the speed demon clearly could easily be upgraded at St James Park.
It was claimed by the Chronicle on Sunday that Benitez had made signing a new right-back, who would provide Yedlin with competition, one of his main priorities in the current transfer window.
While the local newspaper seems to suggest that the move is simply to add healthy competition for the role of first-choice right-back, the 24-year-old needs to start worrying about raising his games in order to stay in the team.
Yedlin may have a long term contract at St James Park, his current deal runs until 2021, there’s clearly an expiry date on how long Benitez will wait around for the defender to improve his game.
In his 34 outings this season, the 24-year-old still looked defensively vunerable despite coming on leaps and bounds since joining the club in 2016.
Benitez likes to have his teams be solid at the back as that lays a foundation for a side to be able to go forward and as he looks to progress in the Premier League, Yedlin is clearly the brick in the foundation that can be exposed by the opposition.
Therefore it’s more than likely that who ever Benitez recruits could make quick work of dethroning the speed merchant from his place in the first-team in a relatively short time.
If Yedlin’s attacking threat, due to his pace and crosses, had produced more than two assists his manager may risk him being exposed, but that return isn’t enough to keep his first-team status safe.
The speed machine has all the potential in the world to be a regular fixture of a Premier League side’s defence, but Benitez won’t wait around forever for him.
This all means that with Benitez having his heart set on recruiting a new right-back, Yedlin should be sweating over his first-team status now rather than later as clearly there’s an expiration date on how long he has to deliver on his potential.
