With it being confirmed recently that Benitez has revisited a potential deal to bring in Chelsea wide-man Kenedy this month, it is clear that there’ll be a clutch of players we missed out on in the summer who could be available this winter.
With that in mind, here’s 5 summer targets that Benitez could reignite his interest in over the coming weeks and why:
Pepe Reina
Benitez clearly wants a new number one and made a long winded attempt to sign his former Liverpool stopper over the summer.
Reina has continued to play for Napoli, but it’s since emerged that he looks all set to leave in the summer. With Rafa desperately keen to have his own man between the sticks, he may look to secure a cut-price deal for the experienced goalkeeper this month?
Michy Batshuayi (loan)
An ambitious target (even as a loan deal!), but a player Benitez made an enquiry for over the summer (according to the Chronicle) and one Chelsea look set to loan out if a replacement arrived.
Rafa will have decent contacts at his former club and you can be sure he’ll be sniffing around to do the best loan deals possible with any unwantd players currently at top 6 clubs. We NEED a goalscorer and Batshuayi fits that bill perfectly.
Tom Cairney
It was well documented throughout our year in the Championship and at the beginning of the summer that Benitez was a big fan of the Fulham playmaker. This term he’s not quite found the form that saw him bag 13 goals and 12 assists last season, but that may only lower his price tag and make a deal seem more manageable,
With Fulham 10th and looking unlikely to gain promotion, Cairney may be considering his options and could jump at the chance if Benitez came back in for him.
Sandro Ramirez
Since his move to Everton, the Chronicle revealed that Benitez was a big fan but could not compete with the money he was being offered on Merseyside. He’s since struggled to play regularly and doesn’t look like getting much of a chance under Sam Allardyce.
He’s said to want out and we need some attacking flair so a loan move could make sense for the Spanish U-21 international? A return to Spain does seem more likely, mind.
Adama Traore
It was revealed over the summer that the Middlesbrough winger had come up in transfer discussions at NUFC over the summer, however it didn’t come to much, with the club said to have been put off by Boro’s £15m asking price.
He’s not featured a great deal for them this season so will be looking to move on. I suspect he isn’t a ‘Tony Pulis player’ and his lack of game time may mean they’d be more inclined to accept a knock-down fee to get him off their books.
He’s far from the finished article, but we lack pace, power and players who can make things happen from nothing. Traore has his faults but he would give us something we don’t have.
