There is one special quality that will have convinced Newcastle United that Matias Fernandez-Pardo can thrive in the Premier League. "He is very explosive, very fast," his former coach Arnar Vidarsson tells Sky Sports. "He has this unbelievable power." Indeed, Vidarsson, who worked with Fernandez-Pardo at Gent prior to his move to Lille, sees similarities with another Belgian winger who has become a Premier League star.
"You could compare him a little bit to Jeremy Doku. They have a similar profile," he says. "It is that power, that speed, that ability to go past people without needing space." That Doku trademark of slowing the defender down and then suddenly speeding up?
"Matias can go past people in one or two metres because of this explosiveness." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player The reason why Newcastle have been persuaded to pay £51m to bring the 21-year-old Belgium international to the Premier League is that Fernandez-Pardo has shown that he can bring goals too. He has evolved into more of a forward than a winger. "In my opinion, his best position is central," says Vidarsson.
"That is how he scored most of his goals and how Lille scouted him in his last season with Gent." It happened fast. He made his full league debut in March 2024 and played his last game for the club that August. A run of eight goals in 11 games did that.
"The coach started to use him as a striker. Before that, he had always been on the wing. He made a good decision because Matias started to score a lot.
After that spell playing centrally, there was big interest in him." Vidarsson's relationship with Fernandez-Pardo pre-dates that first-team breakthrough. The Icelandic coach, now working in coach development for FIFA, was responsible for talent management at Gent as well as working with the development squad there. He remembers a quiet boy, one well supported by his family.
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