To say Newcastle’s summer was eventful would be an understatement.
From losing Rafa Benitez and seeing yet another club takeover seemingly fade away to the appointment of Steve Bruce and club-record signing of Joelinton, Magpie supporters have been through it all in the past few months.
Signings as a whole, though, have been one of the few silver linings for Newcastle fans this summer, and Jetro Willems, who signed for the club on-loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, is already impressing supporters despite admitting he is not fully fit.
The Dutch fullback, who Sir Alex Ferguson reportedly saw as a successor to Patrice Evra at Manchester United according to The Mirror via Goal, admitted to The Chronicle that he had not been 100% fit in the games against Leicester City and Watford, yet fans were still, overall, impressed by Willems performance.
The former PSV left-back said: “I’d say it was not perfect (against Watford) but I created some chances and did my job, so that’s important for me and to keep playing. I played last Wednesday against Leicester in the cup and then against Watford – it’s quite tough.”
With the international break now underway, Willems now has the time needed to fully recover to full fitness after suffering from a hamstring problem for most of the summer, and there is a good reason for Newcastle fans to be excited about the 25-year-old.
As well as once being seen as a successor to one of the best left-backs in Premier League history, Willems will be eager to put his once-promising career back on track after suffering injury-stricken years with both PSV and Frankfurt, and there is a reason why the former Dutch international was once so highly-rated.
As a scout report from Bleacher Report explains, Willems has been in the spotlight from a very young age, becoming the youngest player, at the time, to feature in both the Champions League and a UEFA competition overall.
In time, the defender developed into one of the most creative players in PSV’s 2014/15 league winning side that featured the likes of Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum, assisting 13 goals in 30 games for the Dutch side as numbers from Transfermarkt show.
With Willems already impressing Newcastle fans, the Dutch defender can seemingly claw his way back to the heights that made him so highly rated in his younger years.