OPINION
On-loan winger Kenedy was one of the biggest disappointments of the season for Newcastle United. Having stormed onto the scene after arriving temporarily in the second half of the last campaign, more of the same was expected this time round.
Unfortunately, though, the Brazilian massively failed to live up to expectations. He scored just once and failed to start a single game for Rafael Benitez’s side after the turn of the year.
It’s little surprise, then, to hear the Spaniard in such bullish mood about the Chelsea man’s future at St James’ Park: “Now he will go back to Chelsea and we will see what is going on with him. But it’ll be very difficult to talk about him,” he told The Chronicle.
“They want £30million for him so it makes no sense to have a debate. He’ll go back and we’ll see what happens.”
The former Liverpool boss hits the nail on the head, here. At £30million, it’s not even worth talking about Kenedy. That’s top drawer player money, which is certainly not the category the 23-year-old is in after the dirge he offered up last term.
Even if he played well that’s a fee that Newcastle are not accustomed to parting with under owner Mike Ashley. Benitez knows that, and he’s clearly adamant that no deal will be done at that price.
Really, no deal should be done at any price after how poor Kenedy has been. It’s pointless to bring him in when there’s little chance of him getting a game ahead of the likes of Miguel Almiron, Ayoze Perez, Matt Ritchie and Christian Atsu next time round.
He needs to return to Stamford Bridge and reevaluate what’s next for his career. However, whatever way you slice it, it doesn’t seem as if he’ll be taking that next step on Tyneside. Benitez has pretty much said as much here.
