WAYNE Routledge will never have a better stage to show off his talent as Chris Hughton declared his new signing is at the perfect point in his career to become a star at Newcastle United.
Routledge’s journey has been one of what might have beens and unfulfilled potential, with eight clubs in five years telling the story of a young man who has never managed to settle before his January move from QPR.
However, Routledge’s performance in the destruction of Cardiff City was one of the highlights of a memorable evening and the 25-year-old has added some much needed pace and creativity to a previously pedestrian midfield.
And Hughton, who worked with the winger at Tottenham Hotspur, is confident he has seen a different person at Newcastle to the one which he previously knew, as he urged Routledge to finally realise the potential which saw him tipped to become an England international during his formative years at Crystal Palace.
“I think he is at the right age now,” said Hughton, who acknowledged Routledge has so far failed to scale the heights he was expected to as a teenager.
“We hope he will be here for a good while. We have brought him in here at a very good time for him in his life. He has had good experiences and if he has had bad ones, he will have learnt from them too.
“He has been to some big clubs and performed at some big clubs and I just hope we have got him at a very good time.”
Hughton added: “He is a player who has developed with age.
“He has had some challenges, a couple of loan moves that perhaps did not go so well, he did not get the football he wanted.
“But he is a good age now and a player of experience and I see a better all-round player now.”
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