MATT RITCHIE will spend the rest of the season playing predominantly as a winger after Newcastle United’s January transfer business removed the need to field the Scotsman as an emergency full-back.

Despite spending the vast majority of his career as a midfielder, Ritchie has found himself playing as a left wing-back in the last couple of months, with the absence of the injured Paul Dummett exposing Newcastle’s lack of options on the left-hand side of their defence.

The situation has changed in the last seven days, with Dummett back in training and expected to be available for Monday’s televised game at Wolves, and Italian left-back Antonio Barreca having joined the Magpies on a season-long loan from Monaco on transfer-deadline day.

Having made his debut as a second-half substitute in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Tottenham, it should not take too much longer for Barreca to be up to speed, and after Jacob Murphy left on deadline-day to join West Brom, Rafael Benitez is looking forward to being able to restore Ritchie to his preferred position further up the field.

“We decided to let Murphy go on loan because of that,” said Benitez, who saw his side drop back to within two points of the relegation zone last weekend. “With Barreca, we have another chance to play with a left wing-back, which means that Ritchie can play as a winger.

“Maybe he can continue as a wing-back if we need him to, but at least we have more options and that is always good because it gives us more competition.”

Miguel Almiron’s club-record move from Atlanta United dominated the headlines on deadline-day, and the Paraguayan took part in his first full training session yesterday afternoon after his work permit application was formally approved.

Almiron should be reasonably fit after spending the last couple of weeks in pre-season work with Atlanta, but it remains to be seen whether Benitez opts to hand him a starting spot at Molineux.

The fact that Newcastle do not play until Monday night should help, and with no midweek fixture, Benitez finds himself with a rare full week in which to work with his squad.

That should speed up Almiron and Barreca’s acclimatisation process, and ensure they are comfortable with Benitez’s tactical requirements when they eventually find themselves in the team.

“For sure, it will be good for the new players to have time with us on the training ground,” said the Newcastle boss. “I think time is important so that players can train together, understand each other, and build relationships.

“So, I think it will be a good opportunity for us to explain to the new players what we are expecting from them. But, also, it gives the new players the chance to adapt to the team as well, and also our players time to adapt to them.”

Almiron’s arrival broke Newcastle’s 14-year-old transfer record, and finally erased Michael Owen’s name from the club’s history books.

Owen cost £16m when he moved from Real Madrid in 2005, but the England international’s time on Tyneside is remembered as a bitter disappointment. Injuries took their toll, and the striker was criticised for a lack of commitment as Newcastle suffered an embarrassing relegation from the Premier League.

It is to be hoped that Almiron fares rather better, and even Owen is pleased that a depressing chapter in Newcastle’s recent history is finally closed.

“It’s a surprise (that the transfer record lasted so long),” said Owen. “My fee was about £16m – it gets reported as a couple of different figures – but you would have thought in this day and age, moderate players can go for similar figures.

“I know they sold players for a lot more, and they worked the transfer window well in certain periods of time.

“I remember when they signed a couple of French players and sold a couple of them on for decent money – (Moussa) Sissoko being a good example.

“Every single time I tend to read an article about a Newcastle transfer I’d get a mention in it, so hopefully they’ll leave me out now.”