Newcastle United have suffered the consequences this season for failing to bring in adequate depth during the summer transfer window. Whilst injuries have stopped them in their tracks, the Magpies’ poor planning in their first season in the Champions League under Eddie Howe has left them struggling for form in all competitions. Now that they’re out of both European football and the Carabao Cup, however, Newcastle could look to turn their focus towards Premier League improvement and the January transfer window.
With that said, reports suggest that those at St James’ Park are eyeing a move to sign one particular star who could finally solve their depth problem in attack come next month.
Newcastle transfer news
At the time, bringing in Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall seemed like smart business from Newcastle. Now though, it seems anything but. Tonali is at the start of a 10-month ban for breaching betting rules, Barnes is sidelined through injury and Hall is struggling to break into the side, leaving just Livramento to play a starring role out of those who arrived in the summer window. When next month arrives, Newcastle will hope to avoid such a disaster.
According to Marco Conterio, Newcastle have entered the race to sign Lille forward Jonathan David and have already made contact to test the waters with the Ligue 1 side over a potential deal.
The striker has previously been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur when Fabrizio Romano reported that David’s price tag was as high as £52m. With that price unlikely to have suddenly dropped, if Newcastle want to bolster their attacking options in January, it looks as though they’ll have to spend big once more, making the window all the more interesting.
“Quality” David can compete with Isak for a place
Given Alexander Isak’s injury history as of late, David could be the perfect incoming for Howe and Newcastle. The Magpies are in desperate need of a reliable option to lead the line, with Callum Wilson’s injury record even worse than his fellow Newcastle forward, handing Howe quite the headache. David’s stats show that he would be more than capable of keeping up with the duo too, even though he’s not enjoying his best season in France.
Player | Goals | Assists | Progressive Carries | Progressive Passes | Key Passes |
Jonathan David | 5 | 1 | 23 | 32 | 11 |
Callum Wilson | 7 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 |
Alexander Isak | 7 | 0 | 21 | 19 | 6 |
David, meanwhile, has been at the centre of praise from Canada boss John Herdman, who told TalkSPORT: “Jonathan is one of those silent assassins. He’s very clued up tactically and that’s what I really enjoy about Jonathan, he really wants to get into the details of the game and understand the pressing tactics. The forwards at times want to understand other elements, he knows he’s going to lead that defensive line and will get into the details of that with you.
“For him, he’s a quiet player around the environment and a quiet presence and has this killer instinct. Tactically very organised and very away, but with that instinct to be able to ghost into a penalty area and do what he does best and that is score. To have a player of that quality who can take that moment, it really makes a difference. One who does the work excites me and I know the players really respect that.”
