Darren Bent has urged Newcastle United to bring in Michael Emenalo to assist Eddie Howe in the transfer market, as he told the United View.
The former Premier League striker thinks Emenalo is the guy to ‘pick the players’ for Howe, whilst he does his working on the training pitch.
Newcastle took their time in bringing in someone like Howe and they are yet to add to their staff in the boardroom.
The Sporting Director that does eventually come in will be crucial as to how the club’s ship runs in the long-run, so just like their manager search, they can’t afford for this to go wrong.
These two cogs are perhaps the most important parts of their expensive wheel and one that is crucial to the Magpies moving forward.
But with Howe now in the St James’ Park hotseat, Bent sent a clear message regarding Emenalo.
“As long as they stay in the league this year and they get the investment in January,” said Bent. “Then come to the end of the season, what do we do now? That’s going to be an interesting time.
“Do they stick with Eddie Howe and go ‘right, here’s £250 million’. Or, I think what they will do is they are going to get a Sporting Director, who will pick the players.
“Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, he was in charge of absolutely everything in terms of the players they brought in. He hand-picked everything.
“I think, in this situation, when you are dealing with that much money, I think they should get Michael Emenalo, the guy (previously) from Chelsea. Get him in. He buys the players, then Eddie Howe just coaches the players.”
Emenalo does have past experiences in such key roles, including at Chelsea and AS Monaco.
The former Nigeria international is someone who has been mentioned and tipped as a possible top target – all of which has delighted the Newcastle faithful.
Whilst the key pieces behind-the-scenes are still being put into the place, the club now needs to deliver out on the pitch because they are the only team without a win in the Premier League this season.
It’s a home game first up for Howe and a face-off against newly-promoted Brentford, who are on a pretty bad run of form.
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