Javier Manquillo has joined La Liga side Celta Vigo on a permanent deal from Newcastle United.
The Athletic reported earlier this week that Manquillo was close to leaving Newcastle and the 29-year-old has now signed a deal with his new club until June 2025. His Newcastle contract had been due to expire at the end of this season.
Manquillo did not make a first-team appearance for Newcastle this season due to a series of muscular injuries but, following a successful operation, he has reunited with Rafa Benitez, his former manager at Newcastle.
This is the second time Benitez has signed Manquillo, who also played for Liverpool and Sunderland in England, after initially bringing his compatriot to Tyneside from Atletico Madrid in 2017.
Manquillo joined Newcastle in 2017 and played 110 times for the St James’ Park club. Following Tino Livramento’s summer arrival, though, Manquillo fell behind the former Chelsea man, Kieran Trippier and Emil Krafth as an option for Eddie Howe at right-back.
Celta are 16th in La Liga and face Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals on Tuesday.
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Newcastle, meanwhile, insist they will not sell Kieran Trippier or Callum Wilson this month. German champions Bayern Munich had an initial loan bid rejected for Trippier, the club’s vice-captain, over the weekend, while Atletico Madrid have shown interest in Wilson.
The north-east side are very close to their limit when it comes to the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) but, as things stand there is a steadfast desire to keep key first-team players for an important second half of the season.
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