According to Graeme Bailey, Newcastle are one of several clubs competing to sign Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy this summer.
Bailey – who writes for The Mirror and Gambling Times – claims ourselves, Aston Villa, West Ham and Leeds are all in the mix, but also reports that SPL giants Celtic have now joined the race for the Republic of Ireland international.
This isn’t the first time we’ve been linked with the 29-year-old since Bruce took the job, with Alan Nixon claiming McCarthy was on his NUFC wishlist last summer before he swapped Everton for Palace in a £3m deal.
Like the Hendrick links, which emerged after Lee Ryder revealed he’d been offered our way after leaving Burnley, a move for McCarthy would be a relatively uninspiring one.
He’s a solid player with good Premier League experience, but would he really improve our first-team? I don’t think so.
I’d also argue that, despite him proving his fitness and playing 33 times for Palace last season, he’s injury prone and hardly the ‘box to box’ midfielder we’re said to be after this summer.
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