The Chronicle have confirmed that Rafa Benitez has been in touch with several top European clubs ahead of the January window – contacting PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Liverpool and Atletico Madrid about the potential availability of their players.
With all of these being top European clubs, it’s fair to say that we would only be able to sign some of their young talents or fringe players struggling for game time, however it seems Rafa will be using his contacts to the best of his ability ahead what promises to be a huge transfer window for the club.
It’s also worth mentioning that while we have no domestic loans left to use (ruling out Liverpool and Chelsea), we are able to loan a player from overseas – meaning the likes of PSG, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid could come into play?
Here’s a snippet from The Chronicle’s piece:
“Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez is using his European contacts to identify January transfer targets
“Rafa Benitez has asked a host of top European clubs that he be kept informed of the potential availability of their players ahead of the January window.
“Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Liverpool are just five of the clubs he maintains an excellent relationship with.”
Given the fact Rafa looks set to work with another ‘limited budget’, I can definitely see a loan deal from overseas being explored.
With that in mind, I wonder if we may go back in for PSG’s attacking left-back Stanley N’Soki?
He’s been given a few chances in their first team after signing a professional contract over the summer, however this could make sense for all parties given his need for game time and our need for a forward thinking full-back.
We need strikers who have the capacity to (1) get on the pitch (Rondon = 1/10, Muto = 3/10) and can put away chances in a clinic fashion (Joselu = 0/10) – we don’t really need fullbacks, even left sided ones – well, we do, but not nearly as much as we need goals!
Peter(Quote)