Every so often something so unbelievable happens that you have to check, check and check again that it’s actually real, but I can confirm that the following sentence is 100% factual: Paul Merson has named a Newcastle United player among his “5 Underrated Players From The Premier League 2021/22 Season ” piece for Sportskeedsa.
Usually the only times “Paul Merson”, “Newcastle” and “positive” are used in the same sentence is if it’s something like “I am positive that when it comes to Newcastle, Paul Merson hasn’t got a chuffing clue what he’s talking about”. But there’s that age-old saying: A stopped clock is right twice a day.
The Toon player that Merson named on his list is Big Dan Burn who was named alongside Villa’s Matty Cash, Newcastle target, Leandro Trossard from Brighton, Zinchenko of Man City, and absolutely-not-underrated-at-all, Jarrod Bowen from West Ham (I mean that in the sense that he’s absolutely been getting the praise he deserves).
“Underrated” Trossard has been linked to Newcastle
Dan Burn, who signed from Brighton in January, has been a colossus at the back for his boyhood club, featuring in 16 games since his £12m switch, earning him huge adulation from the Newcastle faithful, even if his performances were rarely highlighted by people outside of the club, which is why it is indeed justified that he ended up on Merson’s list.
Merson heaped praise on the Blyth-born giant, saying: “Burn is an old-school center-half and his arrival has turned out to be a masterstroke for Newcastle, as he played pretty much every game in the second half of the season to help them comfortably avoid relegation.” However, he then went on to be the Merson we all remember by saying “He’s already played a big role for Newcastle under the new ownership and has been a better signing than Bruno Guimaraes, for me.” Steady on, mate.
You really are a clueless pundit, yes we were terrible in the first 14 games but never deserved what was said about my beloved club…