With January upon us, it seems we have the first significant transfer story on our hands, with Everton and Newcastle involved.
According to 90min, Lucas Digne wants to leave Goodison Park after falling out with Rafa Benitez.
Fabrizio Romano also revealed that Everton are close to signing Vitaliy Mykolenko, a left-back who is six years younger than the Frenchman, so it certainly seems as if he’s being replaced.
In this case, Benitez’s loss could be to the gain of his former side, Newcastle.
What’s the story?
Well, the Mirror believe Newcastle want to sign the £119,000-a-week defender.
If the move materialised, it would presumably go down well with Gary Lineker, who has openly praised the 28-year-old before.
After Everton beat Bournemouth 2-0 in January 2019, the BBC Match of the Day pundit tweeted the following.
Lineker isn’t wrong.
There are few full-backs better than Digne from a technical aspect, and he would improve most sides across Europe.
Do Newcastle need Lucas Digne?
As good as Digne is, Eddie Howe should probably target other areas.
The Magpies have decent options at left-back, such as Jamal Lewis, who didn’t come cheap at £15m.
Matt Ritchie and Paul Dummett can also operate at left-back if Howe was without Lewis for any reason.
The need for a new centre-back or central midfielder is far more pressing, so Amanda Staveley should ignore the left-back department for now.
Having said that, if Everton place Digne up for sale for less than the £18m they spent on him, Newcastle would be foolish not to show an interest.
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