'Not handling it well' - £7m Champions League winger slammed ahead of Newcastle United summer move

Yankuba Minteh has been subject to some criticism during his loan spell at Feyenoord.

The 19-year-old winger joined Newcastle from Odense in the summer for around £7million before being loaned out to the Dutch champions. Minteh has made 20 appearances for Feyenoord so far, scoring four goals - including one in the Champions League.

The teenager has recently returned to Feyenoord following Gambia's early exit from the African Cup of Nations. But his performances have been subject to some criticism from the Dutch media.

Algemeen Dagblad journalist Mikos Gouka called Minteh's positional sense into question. "I have seen Minteh come on, but when he is standing there, the bench has been screaming at him for thirty minutes, because Minteh walks everywhere he should not," he said. "During dead moments he doesn't know where to stand. He is a player who does everything on intuition. Eighteen months ago he was still an amateur. Overall, he's not handling it well enough.”

There was talk of Newcastle bringing Minteh back to the club during the January transfer window amid an injury crisis. But with no recall clause in place, the club didn't push to cut his loan deal short.

And Feyenoord manager Arne Slot responded to the criticism of Minteh, suggesting the player still has a lot to learn - hence why he is on loan. "That’s right," Slot responded regarding Minteh's positional awareness. "But I think that is also the reason why Newcastle United loaned him to us! "They, just like us, see a lot of talent in him. But it [his developing talent] is not ‘finished’ yet. That is the place we currently occupy in the football pyramid.

"If he had such an overview of the ball to give every cross, he would have stayed at Newcastle."

Of Minteh's 20 appearances for Feyenoord, only eight of those have been starts. His two appearances since returning from AFCON have been off the bench. The Rotterdam side currently sit second in the Eredivisie and progressed to the Europa League having finished third in their Champions League group.

Minteh will remain at Feyenoord for the rest of the season before joining up with the Newcastle squad this summer where he will be assessed during pre-season.