It’s fair to say that Antonio Cordero’s Newcastle United career hasn’t got off to the smoothest start.
Arriving to much fanfare from Malaga, off the back of a solid U-19 EUROs campaign for Spain and staving off interest from Real Madrid and Barcelona, Cordero was touted as a big star in the making.
Then came the summer loan move to KV Westerlo, where the 19-year-old has just barely amassed over 90 minutes of game time this season, coming on for the odd minute of league action over the past few months.
Thankfully, it looks like the winger’s woes in Belgium may soon be coming to an end, with a loan switch elsewhere already on the cards…
Spanish side closing in on Cordero?
Earlier this week, Spanish newspaper AS reported that a number of clubs in Spain have been lining up efforts to sign Cordero on loan in the upcoming window, with his loan at KV Westerlo set to be cancelled.
In that report, no specific destination was mentioned, but Cadena Ser are now claiming that Deportivo La Coruna are closing in on the teenager’s signature.
They report that the La Liga 2 side are eager to sign the winger to help their promotion push, with them currently top of the Spanish second tier on goal difference.
Having enjoyed significant game time at Malaga last season, where he managed 12 goal involvements in that same division, upping his game and returning to his homeland could make sense to ensure his progress at senior level is not stalled any further.
Nightmare loan can’t continue
It’s another damning situation for our struggling loan system that we’re having to intervene after a wasted few months at Westerlo; and Cordero isn’t the only one with Travis Hernes (Groningen) and Trevan Sanusi (Lorient) also struggling.
Sending him to a mid table side in Belgium seemed odd at the time of his initial departure, particularly when it looked for a good amount of time that he would be sent to Dutch giants Ajax or back to Spain.
But just over 90 minutes of football, and seven substitute appearances in total, is inexcusable. And questions will be asked by the club not only of why Westerlo didn’t play him more often, and why he was even sent to Belgium in the first place.
If a move to Deportivo La Coruna or another Spanish side does not materialise in January, then would the Netherlands be the next best option?
We saw what being thrown in the relative deep end at Feyenoord did for Yankuba Minteh and his development, and the only way Cordero will truly get better will be by playing a higher-standard of football than what he was getting at Malaga and Westerlo.
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