OPINION
Rafa Benitez wants midfielder Jack Colback off Newcastle United’s books in the summer but the ideal move to Nottingham Forest may not be possible.
The People’s print edition (page 48, Sunday March 24th) shared Nottingham Forest will find Colback’s £50,000-a-week salary off-putting and that means the midfielder’s wage packet will be a hurdle to a permanent deal being agreed.
The ideal way to get Colback off the Magpies books would be selling him to Nottingham Forest as the 29-year-old has been impressing for them on loan this season.
The midfielder has featured 33 times across all competitions and his displays have seen him become an important player for the Championship club.
Yet if Forest aren’t willing to pay his wages after being impressed by him first-hand then what chance is there of another Championship club being willing to cover them?
Colback is unlikely to attract a Premier League suitor after being frozen out at St James Park, so his best chance of getting a permanent exit in the summer is if a Championship club move for him.
The midfielder may be willing to take a slight pay-cut to move to a club where he’ll get regular football but you feel Championship clubs will be wanting him to take a major dip in pay in order to sign him.
This update will surely have dealt Benitez a headache as it’s very likely that the manger will need to lower the wage bill in order to make way for fresh faces.
Colback is one of the obvious players to cut as he doesn’t feature for the Magpies and he is on a notable amount of money that would see his exit make a real difference.
Yet the odds could be stacked against getting the midfielder off the Magpies’ books based on this update and that is a possible blow as far as Newcastle are concerned.
