The former Sheffield Wednesday loan star, Rolando Aarons, has revealed that he was ‘massively surprised and disappointed’ by the way in which he was treated by his manager at Hillsborough, Steve Bruce.
Aarons and Bruce were reunited in the summer when the latter walked out on the Owls to take charge of his boyhood club, Newcastle United.
And having impressed under the Newcastle boss at Wednesday – for whom he scored or assisted two goals from seven starts before the injury which curtailed his campaign in March – the 23-year-old was a regular feature throughout the Magpies’ pre-season schedule.
But in the final week of the transfer window for Premier League and Championship clubs, Aarons – along with his fellow ex-Wednesday loanee, Achraf Lazaar, and a current one, Jacob Murphy – learned that he would not be included in Bruce’s 25-man squad for league games.
And after a move to a club in England’s top two divisions failed to materialise, Aarons was left with little option – besides staying put and being limited to League Cup and youth team outings – but to seek alternative options either lower down the ladder or overseas.
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The Jamaica-born player subsequently signed for one of League One’s less fashionable clubs, Wycombe Wanderers, on loan until January and is slowly gathering pace – with both of his goals arriving in the Chairboys’ last two fixtures.
Discussing the circumstances surrounding his Newcastle exit, Aarons told The Guardian: “I was massively surprised and disappointed [to be exiled by Bruce], because the week before I had started the pre-season game and I had played every game in the summer so the minimum I thought was I was going to be in the squad.
“It was a tough time and frustrating but the gaffer here [Gareth Ainsworth] rang my agent. My agent told me to speak to him [Ainsworth] and hear him out. I need to do well here – it’s a massive loan. Hopefully when it gets to January I’ll look back at this loan and be very, very happy about it.”
He added: “I’m not afraid to take a risk. I could think: ‘Do you know what, I can’t be bothered with this, I’ll stay with the under-23s, just chill and earn money.’ But that’s not the sort of person I am. I’m not in this for money; I want to actually be a top player. In the long term I want to be a Premier League player and if that happens at Newcastle that would be perfect for me because I’ve come through there. It’s a great club, I love the club and the fans are great there.”
Whether or not Sheffield Wednesday – who have since hired Garry Monk as Bruce’s successor – would consider a fresh move for Aarons this winter remains to be seen.
The Owls were this week linked with another left winger, Bez Lubala of Crawley Town.