Newcastle United defender Javier Manquillo has been “told he’s allowed to leave” the club this summer with a unique gentleman’s agreement in place, according to reporter Jacque Talbot.
When did Javier Manquillo join Newcastle?
The Premier League right-back first arrived in the northeast from Atletico Madrid back in July 2017 and has since gone on to make a total of 110 appearances during his six years at St. James’ Park, but he’s now set to move on in this window.
The Spaniard made zero starts and just four substitute outings under Eddie Howe last season so is hugely out of favour and low down in the manager’s pecking order, with Kieran Trippier being the first-choice in his position but also Harrison Ashby and Emil Krafth as options there.
The 29-year-old’s contract is set to expire at the end of next season so the coming weeks will be the final opportunity for the club to cash in, but it sounds like they are more than happy to let their long-serving player go for nothing.
Is Manquillo leaving Newcastle?
Taking to Twitter, Talbot revealed that Newcastle have green-lighted an exit for Manquillo and have personally made the defender aware that he is free to find his next home this summer. He wrote:
“Understand Javier Manquillo has been told he’s allowed to leave Newcastle this summer and is likely to be heading to LaLiga side Getafe, though Girona are also keen. Defender wants the move back to Spain.”
Expanding further, he continued: “Interestingly enough, though Manquillo is contracted at Newcastle until 2024, it’s my information that the side won’t be asking for any amount for the player – gentlemen’s agreement that he can depart as a free agent.”
Newcastle will appreciate the fact that Manquillo has remained so committed to the club since joining but there’s no ignoring that the right-back is extremely far out of the picture, so PIF and Howe would be making the right decision to sanction his sale or just quick exit.
The Chinchon native played just 34 minutes of football throughout the whole of last season and ranked as the manager’s 21st overall performing player out of 25 squad members, via WhoScored, so not only is he not getting regular game time, he’s also not proving himself when he’s given an opportunity.
Finally, Manquillo, who has been criticised for his “awful” defending by journalist Luke Edwards, currently pockets £35k-per-week so the club need to get him off the wage books and put as much spare cash as they can towards funds to bring in new signings.
