Captain Colo Happy with Pre-Season Preparations
But the Argentine has indicated that morale in the camp is only expected to increase due to the return of Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye. The duo were back in Newcastle yesterday as Coloccini hailed the club’s pre-season preparations as a “big success” following United’s 10-day stay in Germany and Austria.
Coloccini sat out the first two matches of the tour, but was back with the captain’s armband against Fenerbahce on Saturday.
Newcastle’s hopes of signing right-back Mathieu Debuchy have increased after Djibril Sidibe joined Lille from Troyes, with the Magpies now expecting the deal to be back on track.
And with Marseille star Loic Remy on Newcastle’s radar too, there is a fresh prospect the striker can be lured by Newcastle on a cut-price deal, with Toon officials already holding discussions about the 25-year-old.
Coloccini admitted that there could be exciting times ahead in the next week for fans.
He told a local newspaper: “We’ll have to wait and see, but I hope so.
“It is going to be interesting, Hatem and Yohan are back now too.
“That can only boost our players here.
“We want to see them back and fit again.”
Coloccini made his first appearance of pre-season when he played the full 90 minutes against Fenerbahce in Ritzing, after sitting out the first two games because he felt he wasn’t quite ready to step up to the plate.
He said: “It was good to be back. The pitch was heavy and it was tough because of the rain.
“We were disappointed to concede a goal in the last minute.
“But we have to pull out the positive things.
“We just have to enjoy these pre-season games and look forward to the start of the season.”
Newcastle’s tour of Europe will continue this Thursday when they head to Portugal for the XII Trofeo Guadiana where they face Braga and Olympiakos in their quest to find European experience.
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