Jesus Navas is a free agent this summer after his 4-year contract with Manchester City ended and the club announced on May 25, 2017, that the Spaniard would be leaving as a free agent. Though he was initially understood to be on the verge of joining his former club Sevilla, talks between the parties have stalled owing to the failure to reach a consensus on wage demands.
The 31-year-old winger was converted into a right back late into the campaign last season by Pep Guardiola in a move that surprised many. In a way, it lays down the blueprint for the future of the full-back role in the modern game.
Full-backs are no longer only expected to just sign off with their defensive duties. They are expected to carry the ball forward to the opponent’s half and join the attack whenever the team has possession. The reason why a lot of midfielders are being converted to the fullback role is that there is a dearth of quality in the market, of players who can pull off defending and attack simultaneously with elan.
After the retirement of Philip Lahm, there are probably just a handful of them in the world who fit into the mould viz, Dani Alves and Dani Carvajal. The Premier League, after the advent of modern tacticians like Guardiola and Conte, has seen a spurt in the usage and reinvention of the full-back role. Another example of a winger converted into a full-back would be Victor Moses, who has been phenomenal for Chelsea in adapting to his new position.
Jesus Navas is a natural right winger with great vision supplemented by precise passing and crossing skills. At 31, he is not getting any younger and would have found it impossible to break into Manchester City’s revamped lineup for the next season. But his Premier League pedigree could prove to be invaluable for the likes of say, the newly promoted sides à la Newcastle United.
Rafa Benitez is in the process of ensuring Newcastle manage to stay afloat in the Premier League and is seemingly interested in securing the services of the 31-year-old to add much needed Premier League experience to his side.
The winger’s new-found versatility could come in handy for Benitez who is one of the more successful managers in the Premier League having won the Champions League and Europa League with Liverpool and Chelsea respectively among other major honours. Contract talks stalling between Sevilla and Navas have alerted The Toons’ boss who is said to have requested his club to make the player an offer, to extend his stay in England. But will Navas be a decent addition for the Magpies this summer?
