Newcastle United hero Nolberto Solano has predicted fellow Peruvian Rodrigo Vilca will leave the club in the summer, having been signed too early in the first place.
Solano has been speaking to Infobae about all things Newcastle and Peruvian football in a two-part interview this week.
Yesterday saw him talking about his pride at being inducted into the Newcastle Hall of Fame and discuss his time at St James Park, which was undoubtedly the most significant of his career.
He enjoyed a long, fruitful career with the Magpies, making 315 appearances for the club, more than all of the other sides he played for combined.
Those were footsteps that youngster Rodrigo Vilca was looking to follow in when he joined Newcastle for €250k from Deportivo Municipal in October 2020.
However, things have not quite worked out that was as he’s yet to make a first-team appearance for Newcastle, has only managed 24 for the U21s and had unsuccessful loan spells at Doncaster, Universitario and now Vozdovac.
His contract expires in the summer and with no talks seemingly underway to extend, Solano believes a parting of the ways will be in order.
“It’s the same thing I say when the kids leave too quickly. This sounded more like a business issue to me,” he said.
“They did it and they brought him when he is a boy who was not yet established in our Peruvian soccer. He was a year or a year and a half in. A boy with good projection, in fact he was in Ricardo’s orbit for the national team.
“So, all these precipitations, unfortunately, have caught him in a very difficult stage. He arrived when the club was still unstable with the previous owners and playing reserve.
“Can you imagine that in recent years he had to return to Peru, he has had to go to play here in Serbia, one of those strange countries. And that tells you that you have to respect the processes.
“I think this is his last year. The reason? Realize, Rodrigo is a 23-year-old boy, he is no longer a youth. So, if he hasn’t been able to make that leap, it’s a shame, because he’s been loaned out everywhere, he’s had to play here in the Third Division.
“I think this will be his last year, if I’m not mistaken. He is a boy who is still young. Peru is a country of opportunities for everyone, and I think he has to return to his career. It will be up to him, if he sets his mind to it, to break the barrier of having played here and it not having happened.”
