With almost painful inevitability, the Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Rolando Aarons was a transfer target for not only Man City - something we broke well before they did, thanks to insider knowledge of scouts being at the club already - but also Liverpool - something everyone in the world could have predicted. Both clubs are said to be extremely excited to find another talent they could potentially spunk a massive wedge on and ruin by not playing him enough to help him develop, and are keeping track of the situation at St. James' Park. They're welcome to show interest - it's a good sign for the direction the club's youth system is going in to have such acknowledgement - and indeed the club have welcomed them in to look at their young star, in supposedly "behind closed doors" friendlies that are somehow still open to scouts. So of course someone would get wind of interest. But interest doesn't mean anything until someone has signed on the dotted line and Aarons is no longer a Newcastle player, and in the long-term, keeping him at the club for now makes sense for both the player and the club themselves. Forgetting even the issues that need to be fixed in January, and the players Newcastle desperately need to cover a worrying trend of injuries in an already depleted squad, the higher-ups need to be working from now until it is no longer needed on a new contract for the player. No matter what it takes, he needs to be tied to a long-term deal. Right now, Aarons needs to consider what his priority is: he's only 19, hasn't yet started a game in the Premier League and potentially has the world at his feet. This first big step is arguably the most important thing he will ever do, and he needs to consider whether it is money, pride or the chance to play for 3 or 4 years in the first-team and develop from a prospect into a genuine established talent. And Newcastle need to accommodate those desires: if he wants more money, give him more money - in the long-term a potential transfer will pay it back, or his impact on the first team will - if he wants first-team football, assure him of it; if he wants to march through Newcastle dressed as Mike Ashley blowing a trumpet every Monday morning, let him. Just, for God's sake get him over the line before the decision is taken out of your hands.
