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BT commentator issues verdict on Newcastle pursuit of Barreca

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BT Sport’s Ligue 1 commentator David Crossan has delivered a worrying verdict on Newcastle United’s reported pursuit of Monaco’s Antonio Barreca after highlighting the defender’s poor form in France.

The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder reported on Wednesday that the Magpies had made an offer to take the left back on loan from the Ligue 1 outfit, the 23-year-old struggling for game time with just nine appearances this season.

Taking to his own personal Twitter account to deliver his verdict on a potential swoop, Crossan compared Barreca’s poor form to that of current Newcastle man Javier Manquillo during his time at Marseille in what will be a worrying statement for the Toon Army, who have written the Spaniard off at St James’ Park.

He wrote: “Honestly Barreca has been playing worse for Monaco than Manquillo did for Marseille.”

Opinion

Worse than Manquillo? The Newcastle faithful will be dreading the thought of anyone with less talent than the Spaniard turning out in black and white but it appears that could be the case if they get their way with Barreca. The 23-year-old is unlikely to usurp the superb Paul Dummett in the starting XI and based on Crossan’s verdict he might struggle to get any game time whatsoever. Newcastle do not need players for the sake of it. They need quality in depth and with just nine appearances for a Monaco side floundering at the bottom of the French top flight, Barreca just does not fit the bill for what Rafael Benitez should be looking for in a player. Still, it could be worse for Newcastle fans – the Italian could be as bad as Achraf Lazaar. All in all, not the most promising of pursuits for the Magpies – here is hoping that Barreca can prove the man with the microphone wrong if he does move to England.

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