OPINION
With Nottingham Forest and Rangers reportedly keen on taking Jack Colback off Newcastle United hands, Mike Ashley must ensure the midfielder’s ridiculous wage doesn’t block his exit.
When providing an update on Benitez’s plans to bin fringe players, the Chronicle revealed on Monday that Colback had attracted the attention of Forest and Rangers but that there may be a problem regarding his high wages.
According to a previous report by the Northern paper, the 28-year-old midfielder earns a whopping £40,000-a-week and there’s no way Forest or the Gers are capable of matching that staggering figure.
Colback could opt to just sit on his current lucrative deal, it expires in 2019, and waste valuable Magpies resources as it’s unlikely there’s any club willing to pay him £40,000-per-week on a regular basis.
Both these clubs required the Magpies to accommodate their unwillingness to splash that sort money out on wages and it’s definitely something the club should do.
Mike Ashley would have to suffer a financial blow, as he may have to cover part of the player’s wages to make a loan deal for either work, but also take a hit to his reputation of being a negotiator who squeezes out every penny he can during a deal for his benefit.
It’s important Colback is binned no matter what this summer as aside from not featuring for the club in the most recent campaign, he is a toxic presence to have around St James Park.
The central midfielder spent time on loan at Forest during the second half of the 2017/18 campaign and fired shots at Benitez’s decision not to play him from a distance.
“It is nice to be wanted; it is nice to hear that you are,” said Colback in March, as quoted by the Nottingham Post.
Colback even slammed the experienced manager just after leaving the club on temporary basis, accusing Benitez of showing him no respect.
“I’m not sure [why I wasn’t given respect], I’m not the one who should be answering that – you’ll have to ask the boss back home but it’s one of them things, I’m big enough not to be too upset about it, I’ve been in the game a long time and seen a lot of things,” said the 28-year-old in an interview with the Chronicle in February.
Therefore given that he is not only surplus to requirements but a toxic presence who is oozing negative vibes, Ashley must take a hit to ensure that Forest or Rangers take the midfielder off their hands at least for the season.
