OPINION
Newcastle United ended the festive schedule with a whimper as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester United on Wednesday night.
However, for one player, the rest of this season represents a huge task ahead.
That player is Newcastle midfielder Kenedy, who has had a series of horror shows recently – and he must try and saving his flailing career at the club by playing out of his skin.
There is every chance that the club may choose to extend his stay beyond the expiration of his current deal, but for that to happen, he must step up a gear or two before that prospect is even considered.
His future at Chelsea is all but dead and buried based on his recent run of form, as they are unlikely to want him back permanently if he is making minimal impact at Newcastle.
This is why manager Rafa Benitez may give the 22-year-old a chance to revive his career, but he really needs to get his act together.
Where has the Kenedy of last season disappeared to? The Kenedy that helped Newcastle achieve a top ten finish?
He has been nowhere to be seen, and his cameo against the Red Devils has basically summed up just how bad things are going for him at the moment.
The youngster lacked any sort of contribution on the game, so it is safe to say that he was essentially a waste of space for the Magpies on Wednesday.
There is no denying the talent that Kenedy has – but he now needs to step up to the plate and start playing out of his skin, otherwise his future at the club will just go down the drain.
The fans know that he has the potential to become an even better player than he was last year, so what could possibly be stopping him?
United signed him in the £25,000-a-week [Spotrac] player in order to make an improvement on the resources that they already had, but that definitely is not the case at the moment.
