Newcastle United want Youri Tielemans and hope that Graeme Jones can be something of an ace up their sleeve.
The Magpies were active in terms of strengthening their squad even if it wasn’t quite the trolley dash many were expecting.
A goalkeeper, centre back, left back and striker were all added with Newcastle taking a calculated transfer approach after their takeover.
Still, Eddie Howe and Dan Ashworth will be looking for January signings to take Newcastle forward and a midfielder may be a key addition.
Newcastle United want Youri Tielemans
Bruno Guimaraes looks like an absolute star, Joelinton is the turnaround story of 2022 and Joe Willock still offers an attacking thrust.
Yet there is certainly scope for Newcastle to improve in the middle of the pitch.
Newcastle looked into signing a top playmaker in James Maddison but also cast an eye towards more of an anchor man in Ajax star Edson Alvarez.
Another name in the mix is Youri Tielemans, who would bring some playmaking ability to Newcastle but from a deeper area than Leicester teammate Maddison.
The Daily Mail reported that Newcastle did explore a late move to sign Tielemans before the summer deadline, but no move materialised.
Less than a month on, the rumours are back again as The Mirror (25/09, p77) report that Newcastle are looking to sign Tielemans in January.
It’s stated that Newcastle are planning to launch a deal worth around £15million for Tielemans in January despite interest from the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
All three of those clubs are in the market for another midfielder, especially Liverpool as they consider potential backup targets behind the big fish of Jude Bellingham.
So what can Newcastle do to make themselves stand out in that crowd?
The report claims that Newcastle hope to use coach Graeme Jones as the key attraction given that he has already worked with Tielemans in the Belgian national team setup.
That kind of connection could be vital for Newcastle as they seek to pip a host of so-called ‘big six’ clubs to Tielemans, who has been hailed as ‘special‘ by Wes Morgan.
£15million also sounds reasonable given that Leicester will be losing Tielemans for absolutely nothing when his contract expires next summer.
With little chance of an extension and Newcastle willing to spend, Tielemans looks to be a very realistic target for January – especially if Jones can sell him on the move.
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