Newcastle’s Spanish midfielder, Mikel Merino, is, it would seem, a wanted man.
The 21-year-old Spaniard, is, according to speculation appearing in the local media source, the Chronicle, the subject of interest from a quartet of Spanish clubs, Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao.
Indeed, our source is inferring that Real Sociedad have already offered Newcastle United a fee of £10 million for the player.
Merino didn’t have a particularly good second-half of the season, starting just one match after January, playing a total of twenty minutes. Sometimes, even though he was declared fit, the Spaniard didn’t even make the 18-man match-day squad.
But, despite the above, our source reports that Rafael Benitez doesn’t want to part company with the Spaniard believing he has a long-term future at the club.
However, with there being a distinct lack of transfer funds available for the boss to boost the squad this summer, Rafael is caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Although he’d like to hang on to Merino, Rafael realises that his sale could generate some much-needed cash to bring in reinforcements.
Here at Vital Newcastle, we’d be disappointed to see the player go but if he didn’t make an impact in the second-half of last season we can’t see him doing so next season, with the squad needing boosting we can’t afford to have any player that may be classified as a straggler.
But, that’s just our view and it may seem harsh but feel free to offer your opinion on the subject matter in the comments facility beneath this article.