If one thing stands out about Eddie Howe’s tenure at Newcastle it’s been his ability to get the best out of players who have shown slight promise in the past.
He’s turned Miguel Almiron and Joelinton into two of the very best players in the Premier League, while the likes of Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn have improved exponentially since working with Howe.
The former Bournemouth manager just has the knack of getting a footballer playing to their full potential, and now, Newcastle may be about to sign the perfect pet project for Howe.
Indeed, we’re talking about Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
According to The Telegraph, the Magpies are very keen on the Chelsea midfielder, and, in all honesty, there may not be a player in the Premier League in more need of the Howe treatment.
The England international is a player with massive potential. We’ve seen him absolutely dominate games in the past at the highest level – Rio Ferdinand has even gone as far as to describe him as ‘unplayable at times’, but those times are far too rare.
Similarly to both Joelinton and Almiron before they worked with Howe, Loftus-Cheek has always been a ‘nearly’ player. He’s threatened to be top-class on so many occasions, but he’s lacked the consistency needed to really kick on.
However, with Howe as his manager, the former Fulham loanee could finally click into gear and take that next step in his career as so many at Newcastle have.
When you have a manager like Howe at the helm, your best bet is often to sign underperforming players that have a huge upside, and there may be no better example of that sort of player in the Premier League than Loftus-Cheek.
This is exactly the type of player Howe loves to work with, and he could be the Newcastle boss’s perfect pet project.
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