Newcastle United defender Federico Fernandez is featured in an interview with Argentine outlet Olé this week.
The 31-year-old has spoken to his home country’s press to give an update on how his life has been in England during the Coronavirus crisis.
After saying they’ve all been staying at home following the Magpies’ instructions about staying fit during this period, Fernandez was asked about the season ending without the final fixtures.
“We don’t know what will happen, there is nothing official,” Fernandez told Olé. “This changes week to week, depending on how the virus evolves. When we were told to each of us stay at home, we thought that in two weeks it’d be controlled. Now on April 15th we would go back to training, supposedly, but I don’t think so.
“I doubt it will start in May, this is extended to June and July. The Premier meets with the clubs and they evaluate how to solve it. The reality is that you have to adapt to the virus, to what it causes in each country.”
Olé also quizzed him about how fair would it be to take the league title away from Liverpool.
“They are two or three dates fixtures from achieving it, but hey… This has no precedent. They will have to evaluate everything, such as the champion, the relegations, those who can enter a European cup… there’s a lot to talk about. There are nine games left, you can play them in six weeks, in June or August you could play and then stretch the other season. I think it will be finished, we depend on everyone’s health. Then we talk about football.”
Fernandez started his career at Estudiantes de La Plata. It was in 2011 that he left to Europe to join Napoli, having later signed for Swansea City in 2014 and finally Newcastle United in 2018.
With the likes of Marcos Rojo and Javier Mascherano both returning to Argentina to play for Estudiantes, Fernandez was asked if he’d fancy a comeback to the club as well.
“I don’t know, today I’m very good at Newcastle. My idea is to stay the years that come at this level, it would be very good, and compete with the best. I prepared myself a lot to be here. What may happen in three or four years, who knows, the football and life turnarounds.
“I enjoyed my time at Estudiantes a lot, it’s an exceptional club, with first class facilities. With Sebastián Verón in charge, as he leads in the best way, that’s why Marcos returns.”
Finally speaking on his season with Newcastle, Federico Fernandez said: “You have to be realistic, in the Premier with the big six it’s very difficult to compete, although we played good games against them. At the beginning of December we were eighth, with the possibility of going up a little more, which didn’t happen.
“Salvation is the main objective, but when you are in the Europa League area, or the FA Cup quarterfinals, like now, these are moments that mark you. And Newcastle haven’t won anything for a long time, they are situations that commit us to achieving something. And we want to be in the top 10.”
