Ebere Eze is happy at Crystal Palace and unlikely to push for a summer move to Premier League rivals Newcastle United, as reported by The Standard.
Anyone merely on nodding terms with Newcastle’s long-term strategy may be surprised to learn that, behind the scenes, this suddenly cash-rich club are prioritising exciting, up-and-coming talent with their best years ahead of them.
A model akin to that of RB Leipzig’s.
Newcastle signed five new players in January after all. Matt Targett, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood. Three of those are 29, with Guimaraes the youngest at 24.
But that was a classic case of ‘needs must’. Long-term planning is all well and good but Newcastle had no real choice but to think short-term.
Champions League football can wait. Right now, it’s all about avoiding another competition beginning with ‘Champion’ but ending in ‘ship’.
Can Newcastle make Ebere Eze their big summer signing?
Three successive wins – inspired by the now-crocked Trippier – have lifted Newcastle out of the relegation zone for the first time in Eddie Howe’s tenure.
Another three points against West Ham this weekend and Newcastle will be able to start planning, albeit tentatively, ahead of what may be the biggest summer in their history.
The suddenly-minted Magpies have their beady eyed fixed on something shiny. They are likely to come calling again for the likes of Sven Botman and Hugo Ekitike – two players who fit their desired transfer strategy far better than Burn for instance.
20-year-old Jeremy Doku, Rennes’ Belgian international ‘diamond’, is another target.
The Sun, meanwhile, believe that Newcastle are ‘confident’ of landing Ebere Eze in a club-record £45 million deal.
Not only is Eze 23 and boasting proven Premier League quality, he also fits Howe’s free-flowing gameplan down to the ground. It’s hard to think of a player who better suits what Newcastle are looking for.
But admiring Eze and signing him are two very different things. Crystal Palace would be loathe to lose arguably their most naturally gifted footballer, not least to a top-flight rival.
Furthermore, The Standard believe that the former QPR talisman is ‘happy and content’ at Selhurst Park.
If Newcastle hope that Eze will attempt to force through a transfer, they’ll be waiting a long time. Is that ‘confidence’ severely misplaced?
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