Newcastle prepared to cash in on 27-year-old outcast for £5m – The right decision by Bruce?

Why Newcastle should cash in on DeAndre Yedlin amid interest

According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle United are prepared to cash in on out-of-favour right-back DeAndre Yedlin for a fee in the region of £5million this summer.

As per the report, the 27-year-old has attracted interest from several clubs in the MLS and in Europe after struggling for game time under Steve Bruce last season.

Profile

DeAndre Yedlin started his professional career with Seattle Sounders in the Major League Soccer, featuring 69 times for his boyhood club in all competitions across two seasons. The full-back’s impressive displays paved the way for a switch to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2014.

The 27-year-old joined Spurs in January 2015 after seeing out the MLS season with Seattle but he struggled to break into the first-team and was loaned out to Sunderland in the summer. Yedlin enjoyed an impressive debut season in the English top-flight with the Black Cats before signing a permanent deal with recently-relegated Newcastle.

Yedlin featured regularly en route to the club’s promotion-winning campaign in the second-tier during the 2016-17 season. He retained his status as a first-team regular in the PL under Rafael Benitez. However, the United States international slipped down the pecking order under Steve Bruce last season, starting only 10 league fixtures.

Yedlin hasn’t been a grand success in the Premier League

DeAndre Yedlin was widely regarded as an exciting prospect during his younger days in the United States. His brief stint in the MLS with Seattle Sounders clearly outlined his massive potential. 

He did enough to catch the eye in his homeland and earn himself a move to the Premier League. But it goes without saying that the 27-year-old’s tenure in English football hasn’t been a grand success.

Having failed to make the grade at Tottenham, Yedlin was offered an escape route to extend his stay in England by Newcastle United in 2016. He did manage to make a big impression in the Championship but hasn’t managed to hit the same heights in the Premier League.

The United States international has managed meagre returns of 2 goals and 4 assists in 79 top-flight appearances for the Magpies. Those figures clearly don’t make for impressive readings on paper when you consider that Yedlin is an attacking full-back capable of contributing to the attack.

Former manager Benitez showed a lot of faith in Yedlin’s abilities but his fortunes at St.James’ Park have gone downhill following the appointment of Bruce. The 27-year-old missed several games due to injuries last season, with the manager preferring the likes of Javier Manquillo and Emil Krafth.

Manquillo was handed a start at right-back in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over West Ham on the opening day of the 2020-21 season, with Krafth on the bench as his deputy. Yedlin didn’t even make the squad, which is a clear indication of his dwindling stocks at the club. He did, however, play the full 90 minutes of Newcastle’s 1-0 win over Blackburn in the EFL Cup.

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Verdict

DeAndre Yedlin has just one year remaining on his current deal at Tyneside, so Newcastle need to make a decision on his future. Considering that the United States international has struggled to make a big impact in English football, it would make perfect sense for the Magpies to cash in on him.