OPINION
Rafa Benitez handed Newcastle United attacker Yoshinori Muto a rare chance to feature against Liverpool on Wednesday and the 26-year-old didn’t make the most of his chance.
Muto who arrived at St James Park in the summer from FSV Mainz 05 and hasn’t been able to get a lot of playing time at the Magpies with an injury playing a slight part in that.
However after being handed a rare chance to feature for the Magpies, and complete his first 90 minutes in the Premier League this season, Muto didn’t exactly seize the opportunity.
The attacker looked out of his depth during the 4-0 defeat to the Reds and regularly looked lost during the game as he didn’t seem to know how to change the match in his favour.
Muto barely made an impact during the match and you can be forgiven if you forgot he was playing for large parts of it as he hardly had a memorable moment that comes to mind.
While it’s still early in the 26-year-old’s Magpies career, he is at real risk of becoming forgotten at the club already.
This is because after sharing only rare glimpses of his talents in his 12 outings for the club, Muto is set to be unavailable for selection due to being off to join Japan’s Asia Cup squad.
The Magpies confirmed via a short statement on their website on December 18th that Muto was set to take part in the Asia Cup which means he may end up missing four league games as well as the FA Cup fixture with Blackburn Rovers.
While other players could shine bright in those games to ensure Muto doesn’t get a look in when he returns, the forward is also at risk of being forgotten due to potentially being pushed down the pecking order due to new arrivals.
With the the transfer window set to open in January, Benitez could add a new attacker to this squad and they may make more of a splash than Muto before the Japanese forward can have any say in the matter.
Therefore unless Muto can shine bright against Watford and Manchester United before becoming unavailable, Muto is at risk to be a forgotten man at St James Park.