Newcastle United journalist Luke Edwards has lamented Donny van de Beek's decision to turn down a loan move to St James' Park. 

The lowdown

According to The Telegraph journalist (via Extra.ie), the Tyneside club made an approach to take the 24-year-old from Manchester United until the end of the season.

However, the player wasn't interested in making the move to St James' Park, with the Magpies in the midst of a relegation battle.

Newcastle are currently 19th in the Premier League, having picked up just 12 points from their first 20 matches.

Van de Beek would prefer to be a substitute at Old Trafford, where he hass only played 68 league minutes across eight appearances this season, than drop down to the bottom of the table.

The latest

After breaking the news for The Telegraph, Edwards took to Twitter to register his dismay at the Dutchman's snub of a move to Newcastle.

The journalist tweeted this in accompaniment to a link to his article: "A very difficult story to write on a personal and professional level because we all know Donny would be loved at #nufc. At least some positivity elsewhere in recruitment drive".

The verdict

Of course Edwards is disappointed.

While Van de Beek hasn't really been able to show what he's capable of  at Old Trafford, with just two Premier League goals and one assist after starting a mere four top-flight games in a season and a half, the journalist must have a longer memory.

The Dutchman was a key part of the Ajax team which came within a whisker of reaching the 2018/19 Champions League final, finding the net in the quarter-final clash with Juventus and also the semi-final against Spurs. His quality isn't in doubt, with those being just two of his 17 goals in that particular season.

The hope for the £22.5m-rated midfielder may be that a better offer comes along in the remaining fortnight of the January transfer window. However, it's a big miss for Newcastle, with none of their midfielders scoring more than once this season - a damning return now that we're beyond the midway point of the campaign.

In other news, Newcastle could 'immediately' make this signing