Newcastle Jets head coach Arthur Papas is hopeful the Isuzu UTE A-League club will be able to extend the loan stay of Brazilian playmaker Daniel Penha beyond this season.
Penha was an unknown quantity when he was loaned to the Jets by Brazilian champions Atletico Mineiro, but his creativity has turned heads with three assists and a goal to start the campaign.
Thankfully for the Jets, there is no recall clause in his loan agreement and Papas was bullish when asked by AAP if they would be able to hold onto the electrifying 23-year-old beyond this year.
“He’s come in on loan and there’s some options around that,” Papas said.
“There’s a healthy discussion going on because Daniel wants to stay with us as well.
“Full respect to his club who we deal with. There’s some positive things happening there, but we are not in a position to announce it yet.
“He’s from a very big club in Atletico Mineiro, they’ve had some big players like Hulk and so on.
“We had a lot of belief that we were signing a very good player in Daniel and it’s important that he’s here for the rest of the season at a minimum.”
Papas has not coached his side since 19 December due to COVID-19 forcing the club into six postponements.
But the Jets coach said he was confident they had got through the worst of it as they prepare to face Adelaide United at home on 30 January.
“I think we are over the hill but there is still a small portion (of players) that haven’t had it and we don’t want them to get it,” he said.
“It’s given us an opportunity to work on the way we want to play and keep getting fitter and from that point of view we have a full squad available when it comes to injuries.”
