Why Newcastle must not hesitate to sign Jetro Willems permanently
Newcastle United have signed Jetro Willems on a season-long loan but already seem keen to make it permanent. German outlet Kicker (h/t The Chronicle) claim it’ll take the Magpies £10m to sign the Dutchman from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Newcastle were badly in need of a new left-back after Matt Ritchie negotiated much of last season in that position. That came in the shape of Jetro Willems as the Magpies pulled off a coup in the summer. The 25-year-old has made a solid start to life at St James’ Park, playing in eight games so far and scoring one of the goals of the season against Liverpool.
Willems has quickly become one of the pillars of Newcastle’s defence and it is no surprise to see Steve Bruce and co. already making plans to turn his loan move permanent. That being said, should Newcastle sign the Dutch defender permanently at the end of the season?
Without a shadow of a doubt, yes! Willems’ Newcastle career got off to a poor start when he was seemingly unclear on his position when introduced off the bench against Arsenal on the opening week of the season.
He replaced midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, who had been forced off with an injury. For some reason, the Dutchman ran into central midfield instead of playing left-back, leaving Ainsley Maitland-Niles free to maraud forward and set up the winner for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
After that, Willems has improved and been a big influence at both ends of the pitch for Newcastle. He has cemented his place in Bruce’s team, quietly going about his business.
The Rotterdam-born star is an attacking full-back by nature with the attitude to dash forward whenever the opportunity arises, whilst being defensively solid. He has contributed a goal and two assists while also playing a part in two clean sheets.
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Willems is making the most of the injury picked up by Matt Ritchie in August. He seems extremely well suited to playing as a wing-back.
Verdict
The former PSV Eindhoven man is proving crucial to Bruce’s 5-4-1 system and even though he is a not a finished product by any means, there’s enough to suggest Willems has been a smart recruit for the Magpies.
For a player of Willems’ quality and experience, paying £10m to sign him permanently would represent a shrewd piece of business from Newcastle’s point of view.