Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy has provided some clarification on the injury sustained by Joe Willock during their recent clash with Wolves.
The midfielder, signed permanently for a fee of £25m in the summer from Arsenal following his impressive loan spell at the back-end of last season, hasn’t quite managed to find his feet so far this term, failing to find the back of the net or provide an assist in any of his seven games.
His season appeared to have taken another setback during their loss to Wolves at the weekend as he was forced off in the first half at Molineux with an injury, and was replaced by Jeff Hendrick, who would go on to score the club’s only goal on the day.
However, speaking about the issue on the latest edition of NUFC Matters, Kennedy seemed to suggest that the injury wasn’t that bad and that he should be back to normal following the international break:
“I think the suggestion is he’s probably going to be alright after the international break, but again, it’s not one that I’ve had an immediate update on this week or anything. But that was the initial prognosis, that it was one that would probably see him out for the international break and no longer – but we’ll have to wait and see on that one, unfortunately.”
TIF Thoughts on Liam Kennedy’s comments about Joe Willock at Newcastle United…
Has Willock been worth the money?
Yes!
No!
Whilst he hasn’t managed to find the back of the net so far this season, there is no doubting that Willock is still an important part of this Newcastle United side.
He currently ranks in the top five in the side for shots per game, dribbles per game, interceptions per game and tackles per game – leading the team in that final category (via WhoScored). So hopefully, Kennedy’s assessment of the situation is correct and that he isn’t out for a long time.
Whilst Newcastle are yet to pick up their first win of the season, they are going to need their key players available moving forward if they are to pick it up sooner rather than later, and given the impact that he can make at both ends of the pitch, Willock can definitely be considered as one of those.
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