Newcastle United legend Malcolm ‘Supermac’ Macdonald has revealed that he would be left heartbroken if he saw Magpies utility man Matt Ritchie leave the club.
The Sun published an article earlier this week claiming that manager Rafael Benitez had told Ritchie that he could leave the club this summer. Macdonald, for one, does not want to see that happen.
“They were brilliantly organised, stuck to the script, smothered a reborn Leicester, and scored a marvellous winner,” he wrote in a column for The Chronicle about last Friday’s victory over the Foxes.
“Matt Ritchie typified everything good about Newcastle. Honestly, I would hate to see him go. He worked his socks off and the way he made space and whipped in a cross for the goal was perfection.”
OPINION
Macdonald’s thoughts likely mirror those of the majority of Newcastle supporters. Ritchie has become an incomparable member of this Magpies team and is surely one of the first names on the team sheet for Benitez. He has switched to a left wing back role this season and has been absolutely superb. With that said, why would Macdonald, or anyone else, want him to leave? It’s highly unlikely that Benitez is keen for the Scotland international to walk away, as well. He was tremendous once again against Brendan Rodgers’s side from both an defensive and offensive point of view. He was an important part of the team keeping Leicester out and obviously contributed to Ayoze Perez’s goal, too. That’s what you get out of him in a wing back role and that’s why he must absolutely remain on Tyneside for the foreseeable future. Let’s hope that the club echo Macdonald’s thoughts and keep the former Bournemouth man around.
