Former Newcastle United defender completes surprise Bundesliga loan move

Former Newcastle United defender Kevin Mbabu has left Premier League rivals Fulham to join Bundesliga club Augsburg on a season-long loan.

The 22-times capped Switzerland international had a four-and-a-half year spell with the Magpies earlier in his career and spent time on loan at Rangers and Young Boys during his time on Tyneside before joining the latter on a permanent deal in the summer of 2017.

Speaking about his time at Newcastle during an interview in the summer of 2021, Mbabu told The Athletic: “Newcastle will always stay in my heart. I really love the city, the people there — everybody was very friendly — and when I was in Switzerland, I’d say to people ‘I’m going home now’ when I was heading back to Newcastle.

“I really loved Newcastle and I will come back to visit for sure one day, but I wanted to go to Young Boys, play well and then find a solution elsewhere because I knew it was over at Newcastle for me.”

A big money move to Wolfsburg in July 2019 saw Mbabu impress in the Europa League and Champions League for the Bundesliga outfit before he returned to the Premier League with Fulham last summer.

However, after making just seven appearances for the Cottagers, the full-back returned to Switzerland during a loan spell with former club Servette and will now head out on loan once again to spend the remainder of the current campaign with German club Augsburg.