Newcastle United are at the top of the EFL Championship after beating their closest rivals Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 on Tuesday evening. The title race will be a little close to call this early, but it looks almost certain that the Magpies will be returning to Premier League next season.
Manager Rafael Benitez has turned his team into a strong unit having taken over at the St. James’ Park in the closing stages of the 2015-16 season. And given his shrewd nature, the Spaniard will already be plotting for life back in the top flight for the next season.
Newcastle have one of the best squads in the Championship this season, but for them to make it count in the Premier League they need few arrivals in the summer transfer window. And when there are arrivals, there are departures as well. While most of the squad has delivered when needed, there have been some members who haven’t had the best of the season and there are a few who have grown disgruntled with the lack of game time afforded to them.
Here we take a look at two such players who could be headed out of the St. James’ park at the end of the season in May:
Yoan Gouffran
The French national is in the last few months of his contract that will expire at the end of the season and it seems very likely that he could be let go of in the summer.
Gouffran has had a highly inconsistent four-and-a-half-year spell with Newcastle. It has been a similar story this season as well. After starting the season very well that saw him score goals in plenty, his performances have waned down since the turn of the year with speculations over his future intensifying.
There were claims that he had held negotiations with French side Lille in January over a possible summer move. With Benitez showing no inkling of offering the winger a new deal till date, it could very well be curtains for Gouffran in the Tyneside.
Chancel Mbemba
One player who was a regular in the Premier League last season, but has found it extremely hard to break into the playing XI for the Toons this season is Chancel Mbemba.
The 22-year old has gotten into the bad books of the manager after some lackadaisical performances and he hasn’t been helped in his cause by minor injuries that have been bothering him throughout the course of the season. The emergence of the centre-back partnership of captain Jamaal Lascelles and Ciaran Clark this season has meant Mbemba has made only 8 appearances this season.
It seems somewhat confounding, how a defender, who looked at home in the Premier League last season has found himself on the fringes of the squad this season. Given his age and definite potential, you wouldn’t blame Mbemba if he leaves St. James’ Park for greener pastures.
