Newcastle United have opened talks with FC Utrecht over Sebastian Haller, according to The Chronicle.
The striker is valued at around £6m by the Dutch club over the French Under-21 international. He has scored 35 goals in 57 appearances since joining the Eriedivisie side in January 2015 – initially on loan – from Auxerre. He won their supporters Player of the Year award that season.
However, scoring a hatful of goals in Dutch club football carries a health warning: there’s no guarantee that the same will happen in England as the defences seem more porous than this side of the channel.
Despite that, there are indicators that he is a decent player. He has 9 goals in his 14 French Under-21 caps and having represented them at every junior level from Under-16 upwards, he’s obviously no slouch.
As much as it seems the club is waiting for offers to be received for the ‘deadwood’, we need replacements signed – or all but signed – before we push anyone through the door. Is Haller the trigger for that?