Journalist Mikos Gouka has recently shared why Feyenoord’s staff have been left so frustrated with Newcastle United loanee Yankuba Minteh.
Minteh has been impressive in spells during his time in the Netherlands but he hasn’t nailed down a starting spot in Arne Slot’s team who are now 11 points behind league leaders PSV.
Speaking to ESPN, Gouka claimed that Feyenoord’s staff have been screaming at Minteh to stay in position as he has a tendency to drift outside an his intuition can let him down.
Minteh still has a lot to learn before becoming a Newcastle star
Some fans appear to believe that Minteh is the answer to all of Newcastle’s problems and that he will be the obvious replacement for Miguel Almiron who could yet leave the club before next season.
However, while Almiron can be frustrating to watch given his lack of end product and refusal to use his right foot, Minteh still has his deficiencies in his own game and would simply frustrate fans in another manner.
In the future with the right coaching and right environment, the winger could very well be a first-team player for Newcastle, but it’s not fair to expect him to be the finished article after just a year with a top European team.
It will certainly be interesting to see what Eddie Howe wants to do with the 19-year-old and whether or not he wants to keep him in and around the first team to see if he can be useful as early as next season.
On Minteh, Gouka said: “I have seen Minteh come on, but when he is standing there… The bench has been screaming at him for thirty minutes, because Minteh walks everywhere he should not.
“During dead moments he doesn’t know where to stand… He is a player who does everything on intuition. Eighteen months ago he was still an amateur. Overall, he’s not handling it well enough.”
Howe has a brilliant record for developing talent at Newcastle
If there is one thing that will give Newcastle fans hope no matter who it is they sign, it’s that Eddie Howe has almost always managed to improve the players under his guidance in the last two years.
Some prime examples of players who improved who were already at the club would be Joelinton and Fabian Schar who have gone from being threatened by relegation to being some of the best in their position in the Premier League.
And on the other side, the likes of Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento have stepped it up a level after being signed by Newcastle and coached by Howe in the last 6-12 months.
So, there’s no reason to think that Minteh can’t do something similar and develop into a top player for Newcastle, and in a year or two years time it could prove to be a great bit of business.
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