It was no great surprise that Rafael Benitez decided he didn’t need Emmanuel Riviere in the summer.
With Dwight Gayle, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ayoze Perez in the Newcastle squad, Benitez allowed the 26 year old to go to Osasuna on loan. The loan was with a view to a permanent transfer, and the last St James’ Park would see of Riviere.
However, things haven’t gone to plan and the Newcastle deal is being held aloft as one of several poor transfers Osasuna did in the summer.
The Spanish club are rock bottom of La Liga after 16 games, and last week sacked manager Joaquin Caparros and replaced him with Petar Vasiljević.
Vasiljević had been the club’s sporting director and oversaw a renewal of the squad in the summer, taking on eleven players including the signing of Riviere from Newcastle United. Since leaving Benitez’s squad, Riviere has managed just 356 minutes, with no goals and no assists.
Signing the player from Newcastle is now being seen as a poor deal, and Vasiljević is in the difficult situation of being managed and having to cope with the squad he built as sporting director.
There’s literally no excuses.
At this stage it looks like Riviere will again be looking for a new club in the January transfer window.
With a Newcastle United contract ending in June, it’s certain he has no future under Rafael Benitez.
