Newcastle should reignite summer interest in Hamburg’s Lewis Holtby

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Newcastle are said to be in the market for a central midfielder.

Newcastle United have reportedly been offered Stoke City midfielder Joe Allen ahead of the summer transfer window as the relegated side look to offload their high earners, but Rafa Benitez should ignore the Wales international.

The Chronicle claim Stoke have offered former Liverpool and Swansea City midfielder Allen to Benitez’s side, but with a price tag of £20million, he is far too overpriced by Gary Rowett’s men.

Newcastle do still require additions in the middle of the park, with Mikel Merino’s future potentially away from Tyneside as Spanish clubs begin to circle for the 21-year-old. The Chronicle report suggests Bilbao and Sociedad are keen.

Isaac Hayden has been somewhat inconsistent while Jack Colback and Henri Saivet are expected to be sold after spending the second half of the 17-18 campaign out on loan at Nottingham Forest and Sivasspor.

Indeed, The Toon do need a midfielder to rival Jonjo Shelvey and Mo Diame – one that can score goals from deep. Allen certainly boasts that trait, but Benitez needs to be wary of blowing his budget in one go.

It should see Benitez scour the market for cheaper options, which could convince him to reignite last summer’s reported interest in former Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Lewis Holtby.

ESPN claimed prior to the 17-18 season that the 27-year-old was interesting both Newcastle and Bournemouth, and with only a year left on his contract at Hamburg, they would be willing to sell him for a fee between £5.2million and £6.1million.

That fee could drop even further after Hamburg suffered relegation from the Bundesliga. Holtby is likely to be on the transfer list with the German side needing to sell their highest earners in order to keep the books balanced.

Holtby made 42 league and cup appearances for Spurs during his time in England, scoring three goals and laying on eight assists – proving he can create and even score from deep.

But he is a much-improved player than his Spurs days, and this time around he scored six Bundesliga goals in just 16 games as injury hampered his progress. For a fee likely to be below £5million, he would be perfect for Newcastle.