Spurs’ asking price for Fernando Llorente should alert Newcastle

Follow us on Google Discover

Newcastle United boss Rafa Benitez would be forgiven for wanting to keep an eye out for potential bargains ahead of the January transfer window.

Heading into January, it appears that there may be reason for cautious optimism at Newcastle with the Chronicle reporting this week that Rafa Benitez is set to be given funds to spend and there may even be a willingness to break the club record buy in the winter window.

Unfortunately for Magpies fans, they will probably point to the previous business that Benitez has done at St James’ Park as a reason to avoid getting carried away until they see some exciting moves signed, sealed and delivered.

Benitez himself, may be wary of how much backing he will get in the market for the time-being, so he should arguably keep an eye on some potential bargain deals just in case his kitty proves to be underwhelming.

And one potential bargain deal that Benitez should certainly consider pursuing is a move for Spurs’ Fernando Llorente, amid reports from The Sun suggesting that he is set to be available for just £4 million in a couple of months.

The Sun reports that Llorente is out of contract with Tottenham at the end of the season and Mauricio Pochettino is seemingly keen to avoid losing the Spaniard for nothing in the summer.

And that price-tag should tempt Newcastle to act.

Llorente has certainly struggled with Spurs and into the twilight of his career. But his record of six goals in 37 appearances in all competitions becomes more understandable when you consider he has started just 11 times.

And it must not be forgotten that he scored 15 goals in 33 games for Swansea City to earn the move to Tottenham, so he has proven himself in the Premier League previously.

Salomon Rondon’s performance before the international break suggests that he could be finding his feet on Tyneside. But there have still got to be concerns about the depth they boast up front.

Llorente’s record throughout his career suggests that he could certainly do an impressive job if he got another run as a key player. And for £4 million, Benitez can surely hardly afford to snub the chance to bring him in when he probably has greater priorities to focus the majority of his budget on when January arrives.