Newcastle United will have to see Youri Tielemans be one of their best-paid players to sign the Leicester City star. Eddie Howe is now targeting the Belgium ace for a January transfer.
That is according to The Telegraph, which reports the Toon boss is determined to improve his engine room this winter. Howe believes Newcastle must secure reinforcements in that area to maintain their promising campaign and having now lost Jonjo Shelvey to an injury.
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Howe had already asked Newcastle to secure transfers for new midfielders next month to keep up their early-season form. But Shelvey sustaining a calf injury that may keep the 30-year-old out of action for up to two months has added further urgency to the Toon’s plans.
Chief scout Steve Nickson has compiled a lengthy list of possible midfielders for Newcastle to target in January. But Magpies chiefs are yet to give Howe the green light to spend large sums in the winter window. Any funds spent in January could also hurt his summer budget.
But Leicester star Tielemans has now re-entered discussions at St James’ Park having been a target of Newcastle’s for the past two transfer windows. Howe is again giving thought to the 25-year-old with his £120k-a-week contract still set to expire at the end of the season.
Newcastle are exploring a January transfer for Leicester star Youri Tielemans
Tielemans will have an array of suitors at his door should the 58-cap Belgian become a free agent in June. He can also agree to pre-contracts with foreign sides from January 1. But the Sint-Pieters-Leeuw native is eager to use his contractual status to secure a pay rise in 2023.
The Belgian will tell potential suitors to present contracts worth in excess of £150k-a-week to secure his services. Newcastle paying Tielemans a salary in that price range would make the Leicester ace one of the top earners on Tyneside if Howe were to secure any transfer.
Per Spotrac, Kieran Trippier is the current top-earner at St James’ after penning a £144k-a-week deal to join from Atletico Madrid for £12m last January. While Salary Sport has Bruno Guimares as their top-earner on £160k-a-week after he joined from Lyon for up to £41.5m.
Youri Tielemans has blown Toon hero Alan Shearer away already this season
Tielemans being out of contract at the King Power Stadium next summer should at least let Newcastle secure the Leicester star’s transfer for less than the £35m they paid AS Monaco in 2019. He signed a four-year deal to join in a club-record move for the Foxes at the time.
The Belgian has since offered Leicester 28 goals and 25 assists from 177 appearances in all competitions so far. His haul also includes three goals and one assist in 16 Premier League games this term. Brendan Rodgers has also named him as the Foxes’ captain several times.
While Tieleman’s last goal in the top-flight stunned Newcastle icon, Alan Shearer. The Toon hero took to Twitter to note ‘what a goal that is’ after the 25-year-old scored at Everton on November 5 with a superb dipping half-volley into the top corner from the edge of the box.
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