Siem de Jong and Emmanuel Riviere near exits from Newcastle so will Rafa Benitez spend the freed up funds on a new striker?
Siem De Jong of Newcastle United during a pre-season friendly match against Preston North End.
Rafa Benitez is finally about to move on two more unwanted players from his bloated Newcastle United squad as Siem de Jong and Emmanuel Riviere near exits, according to the Daily Mail.
After turning down a move to Reading, De Jong now looks set to take a pay cut in order to rejoin Ajax – a club where he played for seven years before joining the Magpies in 2014.
Pablo Insua of CD Leganes clashes with Emmanuel Riviere of CA Osasuna.
Riviere, meanwhile, is about to end his own three-year stay at St James’ Park and return to France where he will sign a two-year deal with Metz.
The departure of the attacking duo will free up some much needed funds for Benitez as he looks to improve his squad with Newcastle having lost both of their Premier League matches so far.
The North East side have also failed to score a goal in those losses to Tottenham Hotspur and Huddersfield Town, which is why the manager needs to concentrate on bolstering his attacking options.
Rafael Benitez, the Newcastle United manager.
Benitez’s men have looked sluggish going forward and there are doubts over whether Dwight Gayle is the striker they need to lead the line, while new signing Joselu has a patchy scoring record himself.
According to the Sun the Toon are interested in signing Sampdoria midfielder Dennis Praet, but this should not be instead of a new forward as it is in the final third where the team really needs more support.
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