Newcastle United winger Trevan Sanusi is on loan at Lorient.placeholder image
Newcastle United winger Trevan Sanusi is on loan at Lorient. | Getty Images
Newcastle United winger Trevan Sanusi is back in France as he pushes to make his debut for Lorient, over two months after joining the club on loan.
Trevan Sanusi has endured a difficult start to his loan spell at Ligue 1 side Lorient having joined the French club from Newcastle United on deadline day.
The 18-year-old made his competitive debut for Newcastle off the bench against Bromley in the FA Cup back in January and has previously appeared for the first-team in friendly matches while also training with Eddie Howe’s side.
But after injuries hampered the second half of his 2024/25 season, Sanusi battled to return to fitness and got back into Newcastle’s Under-21s side.
Trevan Sanusi injury blow
Sanusi suffered an ankle injury during Newcastle Under-21s' 2-2 draw at his former club Birmingham City back in August. While it didn’t stop Lorient pushing ahead to sign the teenager on loan days later, it has stopped the player from featuring or even fully training at his new club.
The winger returned to Newcastle for treatment but is now back in France, stepping up his fitness.
Sanusi was back on the grass at Lorient last week and will be hoping to break into the side and make his professional league debut later this year.
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.
So far, it’s been a frustrating spell all around with Lorient currently sitting in the Ligue 1 relegation zone.
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Trevan Sanusi earns praise from 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, but it hasn’t worked out as hoped so far.
Newcastle United loan frustration
Newcastle have had limited success with loans in recent seasons with Elliot Anderson’s spell at Bristol Rovers the last real success story to come from a player temporarily leaving the club.
This season, Sanusi is yet to feature, the same goes for Travis Hernes at Groningen while summer signing Antonio Cordero has been limited to brief substitute appearances during his time in Belgium with Westerlo.
Back in England, midfielder Joe White joined Leyton Orient on loan for the season but has not started a League One game for the club. Last week he returned from injury as he appeared for Orient’s Under-21s side in a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers Under-21s.
Matt Targett and Odysseas Vlachodimos have enjoyed positive starts to life on loan at Middlesbrough and Sevilla respectively but realistically don’t have a first-team future at Newcastle as they run their contracts down away from the club.
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