Newcastle United have apparently bid for Sampdoria’s Dennis Praet this weekend.
Newcastle United have, according to Il Secolo XI, made a bid for Sampdoria attacking midfielder Dennis Praet.
The Italian publication claims that the Magpies are battling with a Russian club and Marseille for the £12.8 million-rated playmaker.
Newcastle boss Rafael Benitez could do with a number 10.
Mo Diame, Siem de Jong and Ayoze Perez are decent, but there has to be an improvement out there for the St James’s Park club – and fans are enthused about the latest rumour over the 23-year-old.
But is Praet the answer to their creative issues? One glance at his statistics last season and it is plain to see that he probably isn’t.
The Belgium international, who has one cap for his country, only scored once and set up one goal in 32 Serie A appearances for Sampdoria last season.
He might be a lot better in England, but the Premier League is arguably more physical than Italy’s top flight and failing to do the business over there doesn’t really bode well for his capacity to be the creative spark which Newcastle need over here.
United, who lost 2-0 to Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, visit Huddersfield this afternoon and another defeat would cause alarm bells to sound, if they aren’t already.
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