OPINION
Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez has revealed that goalkeeper Rob Elliot is the only player in his squad he is willing to let go in the January window.
As quoted by the Chronicle, Benitez said: “We are not interested in selling anyone. The only one (goalkeeper) that is available in the window is Rob Elliot.”
The Republic of Ireland international has been on the fringes of the first-team this season with Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow ahead of him in the pecking order.
The other goalkeeper in the mix is youngster Freddie Woodman, and it seems as though the 21-year-old is also now ahead of Elliot in Benitez’s thinking.
While that may seem to be a good thing for Woodman, it is in fact a blow.
The 6’2″ England youth international [Transfermarkt] has been hoping to secure a loan move away from the club since the summer, when he missed out on a temporary exit due to his refusal to sign a new deal before leaving.
That episode left him unsettled, as reported by the Shields Gazette, and Woodman will have been hoping for better news in January, with several clubs reportedly interested in his services.
An exit however does not look likely for him in the upcoming window after Benitez’s remarks on Friday, and that will be a bitter pill to swallow.
Woodman now faces another several months rotting in the reserves as the club’s third-choice stopper, instead of finding much-needed first-team experience away from Tyneside.
His lack of football in recent months has obviously made him miserable, and he is unfortunately now set for more months of misery after Friday’s developments.