Eddie Howe could be about to give Miguel Almiron a chance to save his Newcastle United career after stating he is ‘delighted’ to have the transfer-touted star back to face Wolves.
Bruno Lage’s men make the trip from Molineux to Tyneside on Friday night to kick off the latest round of Premier League fixtures. Wolves won the reverse encounter 2-1 in October, with Hwang Hee-Chan scoring either side of Jeff Hendrick drawing Steve Bruce’s side level.
United have not beaten Wolves in any competition since meeting in the Championship in February 2017 with a 1-0 victory. The Black Country side have won three of the next eight encounters – five of which ended 1-1. So, form is with Wolves heading into Friday night.
Almiron may play for Newcastle as Howe looks to snap the club’s three-game losing streak against Wolves. After going unbeaten in the top-flight over nine games, including six wins, United have since suffered defeats to Chelsea, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur – all away.
Manchester City were the last team to beat Newcastle in a league game at St James’ Park on December 19. Almiron started that day, but the Paraguayan missed the 5-1 defeat at Spurs last Sunday. He was one of several first-team players to suffer an illness in recent weeks.
‘Delighted’ Howe may be about to give Almiron chance to save Newcastle career
Howe has stated ahead of Newcastle welcoming Wolves to St James’, via Chronicle Live, he is ‘delighted’ Almiron has overcome his illness for Lage’s Molineux outfit’s visit on Friday.
“Miggy has trained this week,” Howe said. “So, we are delighted to have him back with us. There’s been a bit of illness in the camp for a while – I’d probably say for three or four weeks. We’ve still had some illness this week, and players struggling to get rid of things.”
Howe’s comments suggest the boss is considering fielding Almiron, at least at some point, against Wolves. Doing so could offer the £21m former club-record signing from Atlanta United one of potentially eight final chances to show he deserves a future on Tyneside.
The Mirror report United chiefs have slapped a £10m asking price on Almiron as Howe bids to trim his ranks. It comes after TEAMtalk noted the 28-year-old is one of seven players up for sale. Dean Jones also claims ‘Howe doesn’t rate’ Almiron and cannot see where he fits in.
Almiron is yet to score or provide a single assist over his 22 Premier League appearances so far this season. He has made 12 of those outings, starting five, since Howe first stood in the dugout away to Arsenal in November. He has also only played a total of 438 minutes.
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