Newcastle United defensive duo Ciaran Clark and Javier Manquillo could be set for summer exits from the club, according to The Chronicle.
The newspaper claims that the two players are part of a list of first team stars who could potentially be sold by manager Rafael Benitez come the end of the season.
Jonjo Shelvey, Isaac Hayden, Joselu and Rob Elliot are the other players thought to be under threat as Benitez looks to supplement the £50million he will receive for transfer spend this summer.
Clark and Manquillo have been fine servants to the Magpies, amassing a combined total of 114 appearances in black and white.
OPINION
It would certainly be no great surprise to see either of these players depart St James’ Park this summer. Clark has had a bit of a lost season. He’s had some injury problems and has clearly fallen way down the pecking order. Left back and centre half are his positions and there are simply too many better players ahead of him in both those spots at the moment. So it would clearly make sense for him to move onto somewhere where he can play regularly, his old club Aston Villa perhaps? As for Manquillo, the timing would appear to be slightly strange. He has come back into the team recently and done pretty well. Unlike Clark, he only really has DeAndre Yedlin to compete with for a first team spot. While the American has won that battle for most of the season, it’s the former Atletico Madrid man who has come into his own lately. Whether that will be enough to spare him the axe this summer remains to be seen.
