Letting Fabian Schar leave Newcastle United in January would be a major mistake on sporting director Ross Wilson’s watch.
While there may be some logic in selling a player who only has six months left on his contract, that shouldn’t be in Newcastle United’s thinking when it comes to Schar.
Though the Swiss has lost his starting place to Malick Thiaw and Sven Botman, he can clearly still play a role under Eddie Howe and has been a stalwart over the years.
Schar has confirmed he’s open to a new contract, too.
With that in mind, Wilson should ignore the potential pound signs and keep Schar at the club in January at least. Here’s why.
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Letting Fabian Schar leave Newcastle United in January would be foolish
German clubs are interested in Schar and noted transfer expert Florian Plettenberg has claimed a winter exit is “possible”.
Whether or not Schar leaves in the summer is not the most pressing issue at hand here. Letting him go halfway through a season is what would leave Newcastle at their weakest.
Botman can hardly be relied upon when it comes to keeping fit. There has been little sign of injury this season but, given his appearance record, no one should get carried away yet.
Thiaw has been brilliant but cannot do it all on his own and Dan Burn could easily have to step in at left-back again if Lewis Hall misses any game time.
That would leave only Jamaal Lascelles, who has hardly featured in almost two years now.
Clearly, that’s thinking of the worst case scenario, but that’s exactly what someone in Wilson’s shoes should do.
Given Schar’s age (33) and his contractual status, Newcastle aren’t likely to receive a big fee for him anyway. Sanctioning his exit at this point of the season would be foolish.
Wilson is only just through the door as sporting director and letting Schar go would get his tenure off on the wrong foot.
The case for keeping Fabian Schar beyond January too
If Schar wants to try something new, then good luck to him.
Newcastle, however, should be doing all they can to keep him for as long as possible.
Schar is one of Newcastle’s best defenders of the modern era and replacing him with a player anywhere near as good would surely cost a significant amount of money.
With Thiaw and Botman (new contract dependent) already in the squad, the club don’t necessarily need to spend much money on their defence for a while.
At some point, Schar and Burn will need to move on but aside from Burn’s time at left-back, neither are showing any signs of slowing down.
Both back-up players anyway, it’s not as if they will be called on heavily when all is well.
Keeping Schar in January is a must and it would still be a wise idea beyond that point.
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