OPINION
The future of Newcastle United midfielder Mikel Merino has been a massive talking point this summer, and it now looks as though the 22-year-old will indeed leave the club in the coming days.
Heavy interest from several La Liga sides seems to have taken its toll on the youngster, who is now said to be ready to move back to Spain to kickstart his career after a difficult season on Tyneside.
It had previously looked as though the Magpies would have little trouble keeping hold of Merino, with Rafa Benitez known to be a big fan of the starlet, but the latest development in the story has seen the club become helpless in their attempts to retain him.
As reported by the Chronicle, the club are now resigned to losing the midfielder after it was revealed that he has a release clause in his contract.
The regional newspaper claim that Real Sociedad are now set to wrap up a £10million deal for the Spain youth international, who has been offered a five-year deal.
The Chronicle report elsewhere that it was Merino’s representatives who insisted on such a clause being written into his deal when he signed permanently for the club last October.
Now, the issue here is not the fact that the club granted that wish, but that they decided to do so at such a low price.
The Magpies signed Merino for around £6million, so to agree to a release clause that would not even see them double their money upon an exit is beyond idiotic.
£10million for a young, promising midfielder is pennies in today’s market, and the fact that no one in the Newcastle hierarchy recognised that is absolutely criminal.
Now Benitez faces a situation where he is set to lose a brilliant player who could have been a first-team star this season for an amount of money that will not be particularly beneficial in their summer dealings.
As if he did not have enough on his plate, the club have now thrust Benitez into another impossible situation which will make his life much harder this summer.
It is another ugly turn of events on Tyneside after a lacklustre start to the window, and things need to turn around quickly or the 2018/19 season may well be a disaster.
