Newcastle United were ready to ship out Kevin Mbabu on loan before the club sustained the loss of Massadio Haidara through injury.
The defender managed to get his full debut last weekend in their 2-2 draw against Chelsea. This was to the surprise of the Geordie fan base as he didn’t make his competitive senior appearance in the first two years he was in English football.
Mbabu takes his chance centre-stage
The 20-year-old performed well last weekend and took part in the club earning a valuable point against the Blues. Head coach Steve McClaren seems to have taken a liking to the youth player, as he's expected to start in their away trip to title favourites Manchester City.
Mbabu was only given a chance by the English manager due to the injuries they have sustained in the left-back position. Both Haidara (knee) and Paul Dummett (hamstring) have been sidelined, and the youngster has taken his chance with both hands since.
Newcastle admit youngster was close to loan spells elsewhere
The Switzerland youth international was almost sent out on-loan before this sudden spell of first-team football. The club have released information that the player was almost sent out on loan to a Football League side, or even Non-League side Gateshead, in an attempt to get him some competitive games under his belt.
McClaren, when asked about whether he almost sent the play out on loan before the injury to Haidara, he said: "Yes, absolutely. Quite often, you've got to make that decision because it's the only decision you can make. I think he did well enough (against Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup), and showed his mentality, for me to put him at left-back.
The young defender, who almost left the Premier League side to go to Gateshead, faced off against former Barcelona winger Pedro last week and he was said to be out of his depth. McClaren said on the subject: "He was nowhere near (the first team), and we were looking to loan him, and now he’s playing in the first team against Chelsea."
Mbabu spent the second half of last season on loan to Scottish side, Rangers. He wasn’t able to make his competitive debut for the club as he was injured upon completion of his move.
