A few Newcastle United fans have been reacting on social media after Inter Milan loanee Valentino Lazaro admitted that his future at St. James’ Park is unclear.
Lazaro joined to Toon on a half-season deal during the January transfer window having struggled to establish himself at the San Siro, where he only moved to in the summer after enjoying a strong spell in Germany with seven assists in 31 Bundesliga outings last term.
Head coach Steve Bruce has been inclined to start Lazaro in half of the available Premier League games to him since securing the 23-year-old’s signature against interest from RB Leipzig, while introducing the Austrian from the bench in the other two.
Newcastle have a €25million (£22.7m) option to buy Lazaro at the end of his loan agreement, which expires on June 30, while former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is not believed to see a path for the midfielder to establish himself at Inter.
Lazaro, though, is not focusing on what the future may or may not have in store.
“I’ve had a lot of questions about [my future in the] summer already,” Lazaro told the NUFC matchday programme. “But what I can say is that I’m fully focused here – I wouldn’t have come here if I wouldn’t be committed to the club. I’m happy to be here, and just focus on that.
Would you like to see Lazaro at St. James' Park next term?
Yes, absolutely
Yes, but not at €25m
No, he isn't good enough
“I’m not really thinking about just my own future right now. I want to help the club achieve their goals and, of course, show myself as well.”
Lazaro is yet to score or assist a Premier League goal for Newcastle since his winter arrival, though found the back of the net as we beat West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup Fifth Round earlier this month.
Here are some of the messages shared as fans reacted to Lazaro’s comments…
Never wanted to stay can’t wait for players like him to leave
— Adam (@LammoHD) March 16, 2020
would you want to stay at newcastle if you’re an inter milan player?
— ross (@ross_szn) March 16, 2020
Ashley will not shell out for him anyway, the same applies to Rose, Bentaleb and the unfortunate Jetro Willems. They are just loan players brought in solely to make it look as though the owner backed the manager in the transfer window.
— DN 🇬🇧🇮🇱🇺🇸 (@dienoctuque) March 16, 2020
Bye
— Alex Lema Fernandez (@alexlema05) March 16, 2020
Don’t worry Val, Floyd Mayweather has just put a deposit down on the club, happy days😂 pic.twitter.com/h9urJCYv9A
— John (@JohnHun36737685) March 16, 2020
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the talk in January from his camp suggested that he didn’t see a long term future at the club. Why the turnaround? I thought he saw himself staking a claim back at Inter.
— Andrew McVittie (@Andrew_McVittie) March 16, 2020
In other Newcastle United news, a three-time league winner turned down the club last year during our search of a key replacement.