Neither Douglas nor Luuk de Jong Cup Tied To FC Twente

Many of the Europa League First Round Play-offs First Leg ties are being contested today, including that for a certain Dutch club of interest for Newcastle United. As of the kickoff of the first leg match for Twente v. Andorran side UE Santa Coloma, neither Douglas nor Luuk de Jong are cup tied for the competition.

The omission of Douglas is not a surprise with his future very much looking like it is to be played outside of Enschede with rumors of an agreed fee with Newcastle United or a late raid from a mysterious Russian club being widely reported... but the de Jong's omission from the squad is a little surprising. With Steve McClaren playing the hard line in the press regarding the player, an easy way to cool interest in a player that he has stated would take "stupid money" to purchase would have been to cup tie him for the Europa League.

While the potential explanations for his omission are many (McClaren could possibly just not be too worried by the Andorrans), it certainly seems to indicate that Newcastle United are not out of the running to take the striker away from De Grolsch Veste. As of the time of this writing, Twente are up 2-0, making a panic inclusion for the second leg less likely.