Emil Krafth could be a big bargain for Newcastle United
According to The Sun, Newcastle United are pushing hard to sign Swedish international defender Emil Krafth from French side Amiens.
The Sun understands that the Magpies have bid £4.5million deal for the 24-year-old right-back, who only made a permanent move to Amiens this summer following a season-long loan deal from Serie A outfit Bologna.
However, the same report claims that the Ligue 1 side are keen to move Krafth on immediately after signing him earlier in the summer in order to make a profit, although Newcastle are yet to firm up their interest in the right-back.
Krafth, though, is not the only Ligue1-based player on Newcastle’s shortlist this summer, with Nice winger Allan Saint-Maximin believed to be a top priority for the Magpies. (h/t Sun)
The 24-year-old, who initially moved to Amiens from Bologna last summer, established himself as a first-team regular in his debut season in France, registering 1 goal and 1 assist in 35 league appearances.
His impressive displays prompted Amiens to make his stay permanent but, as the story goes, he might be on the move once again very soon.
A youth product of Swedish club Lagans AIK, Krafth rose to prominence with domestic giants Helsingborgs IF, accumulating 3 goals and 9 assists in 93 appearances and featuring in the Europa League before earning a move to the Serie A with Bologna in 2015.
The right-back, who has a part of Sweden’s squad at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Brazil last summer, never really managed to nail down a regular starting role at Bologna and made a total of 45 appearances over the course of three seasons before joining Amiens on loan.
Held in high regard by the coaches in his homeland, Krafth made his debut for the Sweden U21 side at the tender age of 17 and his senior international debut came in 2014 when he was still a part of the U21 setup. The right-back has earned a total of 20 senior caps for his national till date and he certainly looks good for a lot more.
Meanwhile, Newcastle still have plenty of problems to sort out even after the club-record arrival of Joelinton and one would expect them to push hard to get a few more deals over the line before the deadline in August.
The Magpies might choose to invest in their wide options to bring in upgrades on the likes of Christian Atsu and Jacob Murphy, whilst full-back has long been identified as an area which is in dire need of investment at Tyneside.
As well as an upgrade on the likes of Ciaran Clark and Paul Dummet at left-back, the Magpies also need to provide first-choice right-back DeAndre Yedlin with some quality competition.
Neither Yedlin nor Javier Maquillo, who is currently the back-up in the club’s ranks, has done enough in the recent past to justify their inclusion in the squad and the Magpies might as well look elsewhere.
To put things into perspective, Newcastle’s links with Emil Krafth is unlikely to get the fans off their feet but, in all honesty, securing the services of the Swede in a cut-price deal this summer could prove to be a shrewd piece of business for Bruce.
It is still unclear whether Krafth would be a massive upgrade on the underperforming duo of Yedlin and Manquillo but his arrival would certainly increase competition for places in the ranks, as well as add more depth to the squad.
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Conclusion
Either way, the fee in question can be regarded as nominal for any Premier League club and the 24-year-old would hardly be a big gamble for Newcastle, meaning that they should waste no time in getting him on board.
The player has only just completed a permanent move to Amiens this summer and a second move in the same transfer window might just complicate negotiations.
Besides that, though, this looks like a smart piece of business for the Magpies and, certainly one that they should certainly look forward to.