Eddie Howe sticks by 'incredible' Newcastle United player despite difficult season so far
Newcastle United spent over £200 million in the summer, breaking their own transfer record in the process, adding six new faces to the squad.
After a frustrating summer which saw so many targets head elsewhere, most fans were quite happy with the business the club had done by the time the window slammed shut. There was a mix of proven Premier League players and a touch of the unknown.
While the two unknown entities, Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw, adapted right away to the rigours of the Premier League, it has been the Prem-proven players who are yet to show their worth, particularly Anthony Elanga.
Elanga had been on Newcastle's radar for a while, and following an excellent season with Nottingham Forest, we thought we'd scooped a bargain at £55 million, but that has proved to be far from the reality.
Eddie Howe remains confident that Anthony Elanga will find his footing at Newcastle
For whatever reason, Elanga has really struggled to settle at Newcastle, and his performances have been nothing short of woeful, but Eddie Howe is sticking by him and once again backed him to succeed when speaking to the media this morning.
"I think Anthony will be fine, he's an incredible professional. My big wish is that he plays in an environment where he feels free to express himself. There's no denying his abilities or the qualities he can bring to the team. He'll need a bit of time to find his best form but I'm confident he'll get there."
It certainly won't help his confidence if he looks online after each outing, particularly if he stumbles across NUFCFEED, but we have to be honest with what we see.
It may all come down to just one moment to get Anthony Elanga back on track
As Howe said, we all know he has the ability and the quality to be a success, and to be honest, after forking over £55 million for him, we have to stick by him and get him back to his best, as we can't really afford to write him off.
Whether it's a confidence issue or that he's struggling to adapt to Eddie Howe's intensity, we'll probably never know, but we really hope he snaps out of it soon.
A goal may be all it takes to snap him back to the player we saw last season, just that one moment to break through that confidence barrier. Let's hope.
