Harewood To Newkie Back On?

Various outlets like the Mirror are reporting that Marlon Harewood's loan spell to relegated Newcastle United will be back on if the player can pass a fitness test.

News on Marlon has been almost as non existent as his playing appearances over the last few months, although there have been vague reports of a loan move to Newcastle that surfaced during the summer window and then even vaguer reports of a foot/ankle/metatarsal injury he supposedly sustained during our preseason Peace Cup tour.

If the current rumour mill is to be believed, caretaker boss Chris Hughton is still an admirer of the former West Ham striker and will give the player an opportunity to prove his fitness today when returning to training with the Villa squad.

Should the test go well, it's likely Harewood will join the Magpies on a 3 month deal with a view to a potential £1.5 million (ish) permanent transfer in January.

The Mirror suggests Harewood does not feature in any of Monny's plans anymore (hardly rocket science is it) and that Villa are prepared to sell him at a £2.5 million loss to simply remove him from the wage bill.

Now admittedly I could be reading this wrong and I do admit I've not seen any official confirmation of an injury - so I'm happy to be proved wrong - but if Monny wanted Harewood out that badly today seems a strange day to allow Hughton to assess his fitness.

We had a reserve fixture last night that Marlon played no part in, and we have another reserve fixture on Sep 29.

It would make far more sense, if he is returning from injury, for Marlon to train with the squad and get at least one competitive match under his belt if his fitness needed to be proved?

Well at least it would to me.

Either way, it's clear the Hare has no future at the club, and he's not going to get opportunities as a super sub so it's best for him to move on and get his career back on track.

He's given us some good and bad memories since joining in 2007, but he's never rocked the boat and he's behaved like a consummate professional whilst being out of the team.

If he is off, I'm sure I'm not alone in wishing him the best.

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