Newcastle United forward Matías Fernández-Pardo has pulled out of the upcoming international break with illness.
Belgium coach Mark van Bommel confirmed that the forward wouldn’t be in his squad for the next international break. Belgium take on Türkiye and Italy in the Nations League group stages next week.
The Newcastle forward made his debut for his nation earlier this year in a 2-0 win over Croatia. He’s since added another six appearances, including three at the World Cup. He’s yet to start a game for the Red Devils.
He played in two games during the last international break, playing seven minutes against Italy and five against France. He was then left out of the squad for the 3-0 win over Türkiye before sitting on the bench for the 4-1 loss to France.
Injury absence
He, therefore, is clearly a part of Van Bommel’s plans. And it is likely that he would have been in his squad this time around if matters had gone to plan.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. Van Bommel explained today that the Newcastle forward is ill. As a result, he’s made the choice to sit this break out.
“He was ill for a very long time,” he told a press conference.
“He has only trained twice since October 17th. As a result, he isn’t at one hundred percent, which is why he isn’t part of the squad. He still doesn’t feel quite right, so it was his own choice.”
Latest blow
This absence is the latest low for Fernández-Pardo, who has endured a difficult time since joining Newcastle in the summer.
He was a €60m arrival from Lille and expected to provide the goals and perhaps replace Anthony Gordon on the left-wing. Instead, he is struggling to fit into Jaissle’s plans.
The Belgian is yet to score in six appearances in all competitions and questions have been asked about his role in the squad. He’s currently playing a striker, a role he doesn’t appear to be particularly excelling in.
Now it appears that he’s battling to even get fit, with this mysterious illness already limiting his training time since October.
