According to 90min, Newcastle are now stepping up negotiations with Tottenham over a deal for Dele Alli.
What’s the story?
Well, 90min believe Newcastle’s hopes of signing Jesse Lingard are fading, with Manchester United playing hardball over a deal for the 29-year-old.
Now, the Magpies are exploring alternatives, with Alli in their sights.
90min claim that Newcastle wouldn’t be against signing both players if possible, but they are also examining loan moves for English defenders as well as Arsenal’s Bernd Leno.
Premier League clubs can only make two loan additions from English clubs, so Eddie Howe clearly doesn’t want to fill up both slots with two attacking midfielders.
Alli has barely featured for Tottenham since Antonio Conte replaced Nuno Espirito Santo, making just three Premier League appearances under the Italian.
Nevertheless, the 37-cap England international still has bundles of quality, having scored 51 Premier League goals in 181 appearances.
Newcastle should be wary of Dele Alli
Despite his obvious quality, a move for Alli would come with risks.
For instance, the 25-year-old has never proven himself on loan in the Premier League like Lingard did at West Ham last term.
Therefore, it’s entirely possible that he joins the Magpies on loan and takes a while to settle on Tyneside, which wouldn’t be ideal for Howe.
Newcastle must make every game count at this stage.
Furthermore, nobody is actually sure if Alli can replicate the form he showed under Mauricio Pochettino.
In his first two campaigns under the Argentine at Spurs, Alli netted 28 Premier League goals on his rise to stardom.
There’s clearly a fine player in there somewhere, but it would be risky for Newcastle to waste precious time searching for that ability.
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