Rodrigo Vilca had a four-year-long stint at Newcastle United.
He left the club in the summer of 2024 after his contract expired and some days ago the attacking midfielder joined Atletico Grau in Peru.
While the 25-year-old didn’t make a single first-team appearance for Newcastle United, he was asked about his time at St James’ Park in an interview with Futboleros and why he feels he didn’t make it there.
He insisted he met expectations at the Magpies, and some other things didn’t go right for him at the club.
He said, as relayed by Eldiez: “What can I say, honestly, in general, with the job, I can’t say that I didn’t meet expectations because the first day I arrived at Newcastle United I trained with the first team, it wasn’t hard for me, but I don’t know.
“I think it was other expectations, how my arrival happened too. There were many things that, perhaps, weren’t handled. But that’s part of what’s left in the past.”
Speaking further, Vilca stated that playing the level of football required was never really a problem for him.
“I don’t think it was difficult for me in terms of football because after that, I went to League One, which is a competition in which you run, run and run, and which is even more competitive than when I was in the Newcastle reserve team.”
The attacking midfielder clearly has regrets about his time at Newcastle United but has moved on from the stint.
He is still only 25 and his best years might still be ahead of him. Now that he is back in his home country, Vilca would be focusing on getting his career back on track and learning from the lessons he picked up in England.
