Newcastle’s slow start in the summer transfer market has been a slight cause for concern for some fans, Rafa Benitez also calling the window so far ‘crazy’.
The permanent signing of Chelsea’s Christian Atsu was a positive of slightly underwhelming signing and the only player brought in on top of last year’s Championship winning squad is French defender Florian Lejeune. It’s a marathon, not a sprint however and more incomings are expected very soon on Tyneside.
The myriad of rumours and gossip that permanently surround this whirlwind of a football club makes it hard to second guess who they are truly interested in, however here are two definites they’ll be looking to complete deals for:
Jefferson Montero (Swansea City)
Rolando Aarons has started well in pre-season training having overcome another injury and a contract extension is on the table for Yoan Gouffran, yet Benitez still feels that he needs more in the wide areas and Montero is a genuine target.
Capable of playing on the left but offering a different type of threat to the likes of Aarons and Atsu, it may be possible to prize Montero away from the Liberty Stadium if they manage to keep hold of the in-demand Gylfi Sigurdsson for next season – £50million quotes having been given for the Icelandic.
Jacob Murphy (Norwich City)
Another winger, this time favouring the right and therefore providing good competition and a different type of threat to Matt Ritchie, Murphy has already been the subject of a £8.5million enquiry from the Toon. ( Transfer Source: Mirror)
Norwich are willing to listen to offers for their players in what is a summer of change for the Eas Anglian side, with an improved bid for the England under-21 international likely to be met with a positive answer. Murphy has been capped six times, scoring once, and has the sort of ambition that seems him picturing a future as a full England international and Premier League football is needed for him to achieve that.
In 37 appearances in the Championship last term, Murphy managed 9 goals and 2 assists and the 22-year-old is only getting better. His 1.2 key passes per game doesn’t quite match up to the 1.9 provided by Matt Ritchie, but he’s improving all the time and will certainly get better in NUFC’s environment and under the tutelage of Rafa the Gaffer.
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