Abel Hernandez is not the most exciting reported Newcastle United target, but his signing could open the door for further business.
There was some surprise among Newcastle United fans when star striker Dwight Gayle was made available last summer, as reported by the Guardian.
Coming off a stunning 23-goal season in the Championship, the report suggested Rafa Benitez was looking to move on his number nine for a fee in the region of £18million.
But such a move looks somewhat more sensible now, almost a year later, after Gayle has struggled to perform consistently in the Premier League.
He has led the line well in 2018, but his scoring touch has deserted him as the former Crystal Palace man has netted just five times across the season, failing to score in a single victory.
And so reports in Ovacion that Benitez and Newcastle want Abel Hernandez, potentially available on a free, from Hull City make sense.
Hernandez is another player who has excelled in the Championship – scoring 29 in 52 – while struggling in the Premier League, with just eight goals in 49 appearances.
But he has attributes that would work well in a Benitez team and would still represent a great deal if Newcastle did not have to pay Hull a fee.
If recruiting that replacement then allowed the Magpies to make a profit on Gayle, Benitez’s presumably limited transfer kitty could be given a major boost.
Newcastle will hope to upgrade their squad this summer and Hernandez would not necessarily represent that, but his signing would potentially allow other stars to be brought in.
This sort of wheeling and dealing is what Benitez excels at and such a trade would be no surprise.
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