Rafa Benitez will be scouring the market for bargain buys at Newcastle ahead of the January transfer market.
Rafa Benitez will be drawing up a shortlist of players he wants at Newcastle United in January and one of those should be Rubin Kazan midfielder Alex Song who is set to leave his current side, according to Sky Sports.
The 30-year-old is one of a number of Kazan players that have not been paid by the Russian giants in four months, which has made the former Barcelona and Arsenal ace decide to reportedly leave the club.
Although still a Kazan player, it is apparent that his future in Russia will not last beyond the January transfer window and the report claims that the midfielder is attracting interest from Europe and England.
Rewind three years ago to December 2014, Song was on loan at West Ham United and told the Daily Mirror that he could have joined Benitez’s Napoli instead of putting pen to paper at Upton Park.
It suggests that Benitez was interested in the Cameroon international and is obviously an admirer of the pass master’s talents, which could convince the Newcastle manager to lure him to St. James’ Park in less than a month’s time.
Newcastle could do with adding a central midfielder to their ranks, with Jack Colback and Henri Saivet’s future seemingly elsewhere than Tyneside. Mo Diame’s performances have been well below par, and he could also be shipped out.
That leaves just Jonjo Shelvey, Mikel Merino and Isaac Hayden, but with the latter two suffering injuries and England international Shelvey known for his susceptibility to suspension – Song would provide both cover and quality.
His range of passing and tough-tackling style of play would give the Toon the perfect midfield sidekick to the ever-impressive Merino, who prefers playing as a box-to-box midfielder.
It remains to be seen how much Song would cost, and what he would request in wages, but surely Kazan are in no position to price him out of a move after failing to pay his wages.
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