Newcastle United youngster's 16-week loan frustration ends with dream debut & first professional goal
Newcastle United winger Trevan Sanusi made his long-awaited debut on loan at Ligue 1 side Lorient - and made the most of his opportunity.
Trevan Sanusi came off the bench to grab a goal and an assist for FC Lorient in a 7-0 Coupe de France win over AS Gosier.
The 18-year-old winger joined Lorient on loan from Newcastle on deadline day despite sustaining an ankle injury days before.
Sanusi’s injury prevented him from training with Lorient for a couple of months as he returned to Newcastle for treatment. But after returning to France last month, the teenager has stepped up his recovery, returned to training and has finally made his first-team debut for the club.
Sanusi was introduced in the 57th minute against the Guadeloupean club, with Lorient already leading 5-0. But the Newcastle loanee contributed to both of the second-half goals, setting up Mohamed Bamba to make it 6-0 before grabbing the seventh himself.
After impressing on his competitive debut for Lorient, Sanusi will now be looking to break into the side for a Ligue 1 match.
It’s approaching a year since the winger made his competitive debut for Newcastle, coming off the bench in a 3-1 FA Cup win over Bromley at St James’ Park.
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Trevan Sanusi praised by Eddie Howe
Sanusi has been handed opportunities by Howe with the Newcastle boss rating him highly as an Under-21s player.
Following the Bromley match, Howe said: “Tre hasn’t been consistently training with us, he’s been mainly with the [Under-21s] but I’ve been watching those games and getting regular feedback there.
“I think he had a good pre-season, went back [to the academy] and has come strong again in recent weeks. Today will be a big moment for him. I’d love to see him get more opportunities but that will have to depend on how others are playing.
“He’s got standout qualities. He’s confident, you saw that today when he came on. He will always front people up one-on-one and try to beat them. Of course, he needs to add that physicality that he’ll need to survive. People will target him.
“He has a nice way of riding tackles and really good balance. Like most young players, there’s stuff to improve. His end product needs to get better. We will continue to work with him on that.”
The faith Newcastle had in him was demonstrated by the decision to loan him out to a Ligue 1 club.
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Newcastle United loan frustration
The Gazette understands Newcastle do have a break clause in the loan move for Sanusi, which would give them the option to recall the player in January should they wish.
Although Sanusi had to endure a tough start to his loan spell at Lorient, he is now finally up and running and looking to make an impact.
While Sanusi has now broken into the side, other Newcastle loan players have had difficult loan spells so far.
Travis Hernes is yet to feature on loan at Groningen, but has played for the club’s Under-21s side - something he could have continued to do at Newcastle. Summer signing Antonio Cordero has been limited to brief substitute appearances during his time in Belgium with Westerlo.