Sky Sports pundit Danny Mills has claimed that Jack Colback is now in a difficult situation at Newcastle United after suffering a knee injury six-months before his Toon contract expires.
Head coach Steve Bruce confirmed that Colback will be out for the next four months with the issue sustained in training, when speaking after our New Year’s Day clash with Leicester City.
News of Colback’s lengthy absence will have come as a blow to the club, having hoped to use the mid-season window as a chance to sell Colback and take his £35,000-per-week contract off the books before its expiration on June 30.
Colback had been allowed to remain with the first-team for training at Darsley Park under Bruce, despite the boss’ decision to omit the former Sunderland midfielder from his Premier League squad, as he felt the decision would allow for more bodies in pre-match preparation drills.
Mills has now suggested that Colback may not have given his all to Bruce had he been included in the 25-man squad, and suffering an injury now leaves the 30-year-old in an awkward situation given his uncertain future.
“Yeah, it’s difficult [suffering an injury at the start of a transfer window] but that’s what happens,” Mills told Football Insider. “That’s the disadvantage of players running down their contracts and not taking in the opportunities to move on earlier.
“They’re happy to take the big money and sit there, take the security and go ‘Nope, I’m not going to go and take a pay-cut’, and sometimes that gamble pays off and sometimes it doesn’t.
“Often you can see players coming to the end of their contract, they ease up a little bit because there is that fear of getting an injury. And some, rather than go out on loan and risk injury, some will go no and they’ll take it nice and steady to get to the end of the season and leave on a free.
“It’s always a gamble seeing out your contract when you have nothing lined up.”
Would you have offered Colback another shot without his injury?
Yes
No
Chances were there for Colback to leave last summer following Bruce deciding not to bring the midfielder into his plans, but the Sunderland product chose to stay put.
That decision has certainly now proven to be poor, though Mills may not be right to suggest that Colback is now in a difficult situation as he will be able to freely negotiate a move in the summer without the hassle of Newcastle agreeing a fee first.
Instead, the situation is worse for the club having hoped to sell the 30-year-old this month, only to now be left with a £35,000-p/w wage on the books that cannot offer anything to Bruce.
In other Newcastle United news, the club have been dealt a major setback in our efforts to land a 41-cap striker.