Fabricio Coloccini wants to see out remainder of career at Newcastle United
Words by Kevin Doocey on
Coloccini - Reportedly plans on ending his playing career at Newcastle United
There have been many questions raised about the future of current Newcastle United captain, Fabricio Coloccini as the new season approaches. The 33 year-old Argentine joined The Magpies in a £10m deal from Deportivo La Coruna and became one of Kevin Keegan’s first signings in his second stint in charge of the club. While many managers and players have come and gone since 2008, Coloccini has - surprisingly - stayed on Tyneside those seven years and became something of an adopted Geordie alongside the recently released, Jonas Gutierrez. A stunning 2011/12 season saw Coloccini named in the Premier League team of the season and rightly so - he was solid as a rock for most of the season.
Since then, however, I think it is fair to say that his commitment and performance levels have tapered off. His attempts to force a move back to Argentina with San Lorenzo made for messy viewing, and his leadership qualities have also come under scrutiny in recent seasons as he is one of the quieter players both on and off the pitch. His end of season, open letter to Newcastle fans came across as typical club PR and gained little support from beleaguered fans. Funnily enough, it is understood that Colo’s letter was genuinely his own idea, although I’m still unconvinced. Being honest, I would have been happy to see Coloccini leave this summer in order if he was replaced with a top centre back as I’m not sure his heart has been in it for the past 18 months. This is where things get interesting.
According to the ever reliable George Caulkin from The Times, new manager Steve McClaren told him that Fabricio Coloccini informed the boss that he wants to remain at Newcastle United for the rest of his career.
With that said, Coloccini has only one year left to run on his contract, but informing McClaren that he plans on seeing out his career on Tyneside would suggest that he either wants a minor extension to his current deal, or that he will retire from football within 18 months. I’ll let you decide.
Of course while it is unlikely that Coloccini would be offered any new, long-term deal it wouldn’t surprise me if he got another year come June 2016. Now perhaps McClaren has told George absolute waffle to dampen any rumours of an imminent departure, but so far Steve comes across as a pretty genuine, straight-up fella. To hear that Coloccini wants to stays for the rest of his career makes for very interesting reading - or so I think at least.
Being the optimist I am maybe we will see the Coloccini of old in the 2015/16 season alongside new-boy Chancel Mbema, and anyone other than Mike Williamson. Colo may have been poor the last few campaigns but he has been fighting a losing battle trying to keep our back four afloat. Maybe with some quality beside him we’ll see a solid campaign. Of course there is no guarantee that Fab will actually merit a first team place this year, especially if the club are to land another quality defender. To sprout a cliché - only time will tell. Steve Mc has reiterated his desire to keep the 33 year-old though..
What do we make of that folks? Are you surprised that Coloccini - after all the recent reports - is happy to stay on Tyneside for the rest of his career? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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