Antonio Barreca has not impressed at Newcastle United since signing on loan in January, according to the Chronicle jounalist Lee Ryder.
The 23-year-old has played just four minutes since arriving on Tyneside, and Ryder has hinted that he is a long way off adding to that figure after failing to hit the standards expected in training.
Speaking during a Q&A for the Chronicle (13.53), he said: “Barreca has not impressed since coming in from Monaco on loan. Paul Dummett has been injured but Barreca has not stepped up.
“The fact that Matt Ritchie has played out of position ahead of him tells you everything you need to know.”
OPINION
Barreca is definitely on course to becoming one of Newcastle United’s most disappointing signings in recent memory, and that’s saying something. Nobody was excepting a world beater when he arrived in January, but anything would have been better than what he has contributed so far. The Italian was supposed to be cover for Paul Dummett, but even with the Welsh international out of the side through injury, he found himself beneath Matt Ritchie in the pecking order. That doesn’t bode well for his future at the club, and it’s becoming increasingly obvious that he has been signed as somethgin of a last resort, an extra body to be called on if all else fails. It’s probably fair to say that he will be gone by the summer, but you have to ask how badly he must be performing in training if Rafa Benitez isn’t willing to take a chance on him. More than anything else, it also suggests that the Toon scouts got this one very wrong.
