Some good news from the Chronicle today, who’ve revealed that Rafa Benitez has made the signing of a new number 10 one of his top priorities at Newcastle United this summer.
This will come as a relief to many fans, with this having been a problem position for us over the last two years.
Ayoze Perez and Mo Diame never made the role their own despite our title winning Championship campaign, and although Perez has been deployed in the role for the vast majority of this season, his offensive output hasn’t really been good enough.
He’ll run all day and put a shift in for the team, but his return of just 2 goals and 3 assists in 28 Premier League games won’t cut it.
Good playmakers aren’t easy to find, but just look at Brighton’s new number 10 Pascal Gross. He’ll run all day, but he’s added 5 goals, 8 assists and a quality creative force to their armoury. That’s what we need, so it’s good to hear Rafa and has team have been scouting extensively in a bid to solve this issue in the summer.
The Chronicle insist that the signing of a new striker will be a top priority, but they state that Benitez is ‘determined to finally resolve’ our issues in the number 10 position:
‘While signing a proven top-flight striker remains a priority, Benitez is also determined to finally resolve United’s problem No 10 position.
‘Benitez had hoped to sign such a player both last summer and during the January window, but the Magpies failed to recruit any attacking-midfield reinforcements.’
With us developing a ‘tough to beat’ tag and a solid core, hopefully the signings of some attacking quality up front and in the number 10 role can kick us on that bit more next season – providing we stay up and keep Benitez that is!
