The Chronicle confirmed this week that Benitez is prioritising moves for a striker, a number 10 and a left-back in January, and if recent reports are to be believed, he might just be targeting Sebastien Haller, Miguel Almiron and Nicolás Tagliafico in those three areas.
Starting with our striker search, the Northern Echo reported just yesterday that Frankfurt striker Sebastien Haller was Rafa’s ‘number one’ striker target
This isn’t the first time Benitez has been linked with a move for the big Frenchman, he’s a good age (24) and he’s been pretty prolific in Germany recently, so this link seems legitimate to me.
Whether we’re able to lure him to a club fighting relegation is another matter, however.
Then there’s Miguel Almiron – the highly-rated attacking midfielder at MLS side Atlanta Utd. According to Alan Nixon (who was the first to report our interest in Federico Fernandez), the Paraguayan playmaker is someone we’re pushing to sign this winter.
He’s another player that fits Ashley’s buying profile (a young exciting talent with big potential). He’s been tipped to make the big move to the Premier League over the last few transfer windows, but it’s another ambitious target, with plenty English clubs showing interest.
Then, finally, there’s Ajax left-back Nicolás Tagliafico. The Chronicle claim that we could’ve had him for just £4m last summer and were also quoted £8m for him just a few months ago, so there seems to be long-standing interest here. The club confirmed in the Fans Forum minutes that an ‘attacking left-back’ was on the agenda ahead of the January window, so the Argentinian is one to watch.
Time will tell, but it seems like these three could feature high up on Rafa’s wish-list heading into the January window.