OPINION
Newcastle United need to prioritise getting midfielder Jack Colback off their books after Rafa Benitez sent him to train with the reserves for pre-season.
The Chronicle reported that just like last pre-season the 28-year-old senior Magpies player had suffered a demotion in status as he had been sent to train with the reserves team.
The local newspaper even stated that Colback could feature in the reserve’s team game against Barrow on Monday and this is going to do nothing to help see offers roll in for his services.
It was previously reported by the Chronicle that the midfielder who earns in the region of £40,000-a-week on his current contract was reluctant to leave the club until a decent alternative offer came his way.
Colback, based on this report, is thought to have a number of teams in the Championship pursuing his service with the Magpies hopeful to get him permanently off their books.
However the Benitez’s side are thought to be willing to sanction a loan deal if it was the club’s last resort to get rid of the midfielder this summer even though Colback’s contract is set to expire in 2019, meaning the Magpies would miss out on receiving a transfer fee for him.
Even if a loan deal is the only way to get Colback out of the door at St James Park, the Magpies must prioritise getting a deal for his exit secured sooner rather than later due to his demotion to reserve team status.
The 28-year-old midfielder may have had a successful spell at Forest in the second half of the 2017/18 season but that will soon be forgotten given how quickly the news cycle moves in football.
There are going to be few clubs capable of signing Colback keeping an eye on the Magpies’ reserve fixtures so he’s hardly going to be able to attract a new suitor who will make him an offer good enough to give up his current £40,000-a-week pay packet.
This means the Magpies have to take the initiative and start drumming up interest in the 28-year-old now before he rots away in reserves for a few weeks and becomes the club’s forgotten man.
The best case scenario would see Benitez’s transfer kitty receive a small boost from the sale of Colback but given his wages it is just a must to get him off the books to make way for new recruits.
Colback’s hefty wages, given his status, are no doubt inadvertently stopping the Magpies being able to offer certain players a higher salary in order to attract them as the club know he’s still on their books.
Therefore the Magpies must prioritise securing an exit for Colback after sending him to train with the reserves for pre-season.
