Fabricio Coloccini asks to leave Newcastle in January

In a weird turn of events, Newcastle skipper Fabricio Coloccini has asked permission to leave the North-East side in the January transfer window. While the 30-year-old Argentine has not formally handed in a transfer request, he has made known through his agent that he wishes to return to his homeland. This comes as another blow for the Magpies who have been struggling in the league this season owing to a large number of first team players absent due to injuries.

The first signs of discontent from the South American emerged when his father Osvaldo revealed on Argentinian TV that his son wanted to return to San Lorenzo, his hometown club, where he spent the 2000–01 season on loan. With Newcastle failing to make any further breakthroughs in the transfer market to shore up a leaky defense or find a replacement for the departed Demba Ba, the news comes as an untimely shock at Tyneside.

Coloccini joined Newcastle in from Deportivo La Coruna for £10.3m in 2008 and had signed a new four-year contract last year which made him the highest paid player in the squad. The Argentine’s performances in recent times has drawn rave reviews across the nation and was included in the PFA team of the year last season.

Newcastle are yet to produce an official statement regarding the happenings and Alan Pardew has included him in the side travelling to Norwich for their game tomorrow.

San Lorenzo’s president, Matias Lammens said: “He represents much more than football – he played here six months and was champion, his father works at the club and is a fan. The deadline is next week but we cannot do anything crazy with the budget.”

It will be interesting to see what transpires in the few weeks leading to February as Pardew will have his work cut out to convince his captain to stick around to guide the team to safety. The biggest stumbling block however may yet be financial. San Lorenzo would have the problem of coming up with a fee and being able to match Coloccini’s wages.

Alan Pardew declined to discuss over the speculation.