If there’s one name that’s been constantly linked with a move to Newcastle United over the past six or seven weeks, it’s Ousmane Dembele, with a host of Spanish papers regularly reporting on our ‘interest’.
Given his awful recent injury record and likely reluctance to play for a side struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, I’ve found it hard to believe.
However, Sky Sports reporter Fabrizio Romano insists that we are showing interest in the Barcelona winger, saying an enquiry has been lodged as he approaches the final six months of his current deal at the Nou Camp.
Here’s what the journalist had to say when speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s Youtube channel this week:
“He wants a super big deal, a super big new contract and this is why Newcastle is enquiring about him.
“I say ‘enquiring’ because they have not made any official proposal yet because they have no director of football.
“So to go into this process, to do an official proposal, they will need something else.
“They have some intermediary working around the club, that is speaking with people close to Dembele, so it’s true that they have an interest.”
When fit he’s an outstanding talent, but I struggle to see this for a couple of reasons.
A loan move is not possible due to the fact he’s out of contract at the end of the season – and that seems the only realistic deal given a permanent transfer could see him signing up for a club who could soon find themselves in the Championship.
Yes, a cut-price fee could be possible before he becomes a free agent next summer, but he’d demand crazy wages for a player that’s not started a game in over six months.
Also, could someone with his recent fitness record and complete lack of game time really fit into a side that will need to bust a gut every week in a bid to stay up?
In many wats it’d be an incredible coup, yet it just feels like the wrong player at the wrong time and highly unlikely for all sorts of reasons.
This would be a significant signing imo because when fit, this lad is real quality …. But that’s the problem – when he’s fit!!.
I’d say the same about Samuel Umtiti who is also a Barca sicknote.
We don’t need sicknotes right now. We need players who are improvements on what we already have then can make an immediate impact – not give our medical staff more work to do.
Sharpy17(Quote)
We need a quality Centre back, commanding midfield general, and quality striker in the short term in January.
We also need to offload Krafth, Clarke, Hendrick, Gayle, Dummet and (Woodman on loan) in aJanuary as the first five are just sick notes or not good enough.
That should free up a further three spaces in the squad for the Summer when we know what division we are playing in.
I wouldn’t write the Longstaff’s off just yet, with proper coaching they may be ok.
Joseph(Quote)
In fact we need almost a complete side, being we now have a side that even our best player would find difficulty getting starts, which includes our half crazy French recruit .
forwards = a cf who has what ?three goals, and one though decent is a sick note, a weird Frenchman and a speedy no10 who seldom scores, I remember side from the fifties with bobby Mitchell and the Chilean no10# with a not so great Walker and wor Jackie, which was better.so no forwards, sign new ones.
Midfield we have a lazy bald general who prefers the title languid, Shola looked and played a languid style, but this guy is poor, sell em, all, including our defensive midfielder from the second tier, I think we shoulda kept his partner who arrived with him.
As for defenders and goalies sell the lot or just fire them as they don’t belong in a league like the EPL
chuck(Quote)