OPINION
Rafa Benitez commented on why Newcastle summer signing Yoshinori Muto hadn’t been truly unleashed at St James Park as of yet and his remarks exposed everything blatantly wrong with Newcastle transfer policy.
Muto was one of the club’s more higher profile signings this summer but despite the Magpies struggling for goals, the attacker has only played 65 minutes of Premier League action.
The Magpies boss spoke candidly on why the 26-year-old forward hadn’t been regularly deployed and shared that some players need up to a year in order to settle in to their new club.
“Some players, they need one year,” Benitez told the Shield Gazette.
“Some players, they six months, some players, they need one month.
“So, for a new player, always you have given him some time.”
While Benitez is accurate with his comments about new recruits needing time to settle, the fact he claims that some need up to a year is painful.
As that timescale is clearly a reflection of the fact the Magpies regularly sign unproven players in the Premier League on the cheap with some perhaps even not good enough to be unleashed in the Championship when they first arrive.
The Magpies needed to sign players this summer, who after a reasonable period of time, would be able to settle in and start helping their sides cause.
But given that the Magpies’ transfer policy seems to prioritise targeting the cheapest possible option and avoid going head to head with clubs as that drives up the price, players who take too long to adjust to life at St James Park end up arriving instead.
This means Benitez’s remarks about Muto’s lack of impact so far, even if he starts to make his mark shortly, expose everything blatantly wrong with the Magpies’ current transfer policy as it always results in players who need a very noticeable time to adjust being signed by the club.
While there are a few exceptions, given that the Magpies are in one of Europe’s toughest leagues, it’s just not good enough for them to gamble on some defying expectations.
