Newcastle United’s release of El-Mhanni is convenient

Maybe it’s the conspiracy theorist in me, or the fact that I look very deeply into things, but doesn’t the release of Yasin Ben El-Mhanni seem a bit too...what’s the word?

Expedient?

I’m not saying he was a fantastic footballer that deserved to remain with the U-23 squad that is going to be revamped. Only a couple of players survived that axing. He was a freestyler who had awesome ball skills when he wasn’t being put under pressure in the heat of a match.

He wasn’t that great. But nonetheless, his release raises a couple of questions.

With El-Mhanni and every player that backed up his allegations gone, does Newcastle United think that this will relieve them of their current situation involving Peter Beardsley’s bullying and racist allegations? If so, they’re sorely mistaken.

Of course, the club will have everyone and their mother believe that the release of El-Mhanni was purely a footballing decision. And I like to think that it played the most crucial role in their decision on the matter.

Or it could have just been that he really actually wasn’t that good of a footballer and was a freestyler who had really good moves and could fill in for Ronaldo and Messi in certain shots. That’s not a bad way to make a living.

But what do we know?