OPINION
There’s always a danger with young players that their loan spells backfire and that they return to their parent clubs a shadow of their former selves.
That will surely be the worry for Newcastle fans where teenage striker Elias Sorensen is concerned. The 19-year-old was the talk of the Toon over the first half of the season as he wowed for the Magpies’ U23s side.
In January Rafael Benitez took the decision to loan Sorensen out to League One side Blackpool and, well, let’s just say that things haven’t quite gone to plan for the youngster.
He’s played just over half an hour of first team football since joining the Tangerines and hasn’t even made the match day squad for his team’s last three games. Indeed, he was forced to return to Newcastle to play an U23s game recently in order to keep him sharp. Yet again, against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, he was kept out in the cold – things are going from bad to worse for him at the moment.
It’s fair to say that this isn’t the way Benitez will have wanted this loan spell to go for the teenager. He’d scored 16 goals in 19 games before his move but his momentum has stalled drastically.
His entire Blackpool experience has been a waste of time so far, and there’s no doubt that Benitez will be regretting his boneheaded decision to send him to a club so high up the Football League ladder.
A switch to a League Two or even National League side would have been a far more appropriate choice for Sorensen. The Dane would then have received regular first team football instead of being stuck on the periphery at Blackpool.
Benitez doesn’t get much wrong but, whether it was solely his decision or not, the Spaniard must concede that Newcastle missed a golden opportunity here.