Newcastle’s captain, Fabricio Coloccini, has announced that he wants to leave the club in January, for personal reasons, surprising bosses on Tyneside.
At 30 years old, the central defender has not formally requested the transfer but asked the permission to go to Argentina, saying he is going through a crisis in life and feels he can not remain in England.
Newcastle’s leaders will try in the coming days to convince Coloccini to change his mind and remain in the Premier League, but admit it will be difficult to do so, feeling that the player has decided to return home to Argentina.
Coloccini, who was born in Cordoba, came to Newcastle in 2008 from Deportivo La Coruna, and last year extended his contract for another four seasons. In October, after the match against Sunderland, Newcastle’s manager Alan Pardew said that watching him play was such as would be “seen Bobby Moore.”