OPINION
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s failure to back Rafa Benitez in the summer market is already coming back to haunt the Magpies after a poor start to the season.
Just one point from their first three Premier League games and an early exit from the Carabao Cup to Nottingham Forest have illustrated the challenges facing the club this season, and things will not get any easier as the season gets into full flow.
Obviously, the adverse effects of Ashley’s broken promises in the transfer market are most keenly felt in the first-team environment, but as the EFL deadline passed on Friday those consequences had spread to academy level.
As reported by Chronicle journalist Lee Ryder on Twitter, young right-back Jamie Sterry has not secured a loan move away from the club due to a lack of depth in the first-team squad.
Looks like Jamie Sterry will be staying due to lack of depth in #nufc squad.
— Lee Ryder (@lee_ryder) August 31, 2018
Newcastle’s problems on the right side of defence have already been exposed this season, with the injury to DeAndre Yedlin seeing Javier Manquillo deputise before the Spaniard was also injured.
Luckily, Yedlin’s injury was not too serious and he has already returned to action, but the problems were still clear for all to see.
It was well known that Benitez wanted to bring in reinforcements at wing-back over the summer, but he ended up being forced into prioritising other positions and failed to make any signings in that area.
This was obviously a consequence of Ashley’s failure to produce the funds he has always promised, and Sterry is the one who will now have to pay for that.
A loan spell away is clearly the best option for him at the current moment, with the youngster still remaining third choice at right-back behind Yedlin and Manquillo.
That means that all he is likely to do until January is sit on the bench and continue to play for the Under-23s, which will stall his development.
At 22 years old, Sterry does not have much more time to impress at Newcastle before he is shipped off for good, and so Ashley’s failures may end up sealing his long-term fate.
As if Ashley’s failures weren’t dragging the club down far enough, the consequences are now being felt at development level, and that will no doubt have far-reaching long-term repercussions for the Magpies as well.
