Muto is the latest striker said to be interesting the Newcastle United manager.
Rafa Benitez is keen on bringing Yoshinori Muto to Newcastle United, according to the Daily Mirror (liveblog entry 13:31).
Muto, who plays his club football for Mainz in Germany’s Bundesliga, was an unused substitute in each of Japan’s first two games at the 2018 World Cup.
However, the forward scored eight goals from 20 league starts last season and is reportedly valued at £14 million by Mainz.
Newcastle have lost loan striker Islam Slimani since the end of last term, while another frontman Aleksandar Mitrovic has been strongly linked with a move away from St James’ Park.
Although, whether Mitrovic leaves or not, recruiting a goalscorer could be among Benitez’s top priorities this summer, given that no Magpies player found the net more than eight times during last season’s Premier League campaign.
Ayoze Perez, Dwight Gayle, Joselu and Adam Armstrong are the other senior strikers on the books at Newcastle.
Muto, who has scored twice in 22 games for Japan, moved to Mainz from FC Tokyo three years ago.
Would Muto be a good signing for Newcastle?
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