The Mail’s Craig Hope has offered an update on the Toon transfer front today, naming three players on our radar and slightly sobering news for Newcastle fans.
He’s revealed that we are indeed interested in Alan Varela – the Boca Junior midfielder who was heavily linked last week via reports in South America – along with Leicester’s Youri Tielemans and Real Valladolid right-back Ivan Fresneda.
All three are ‘on the list’ of targets drawn up by the club’s recruitment team, however it’s thought ‘nothing is imminent’ or being ‘actively pursued’ at present.
Instead of making early moves in a notoriously difficult January market, Hope believes that Newcastle will assess injuries in the squad and act later in the window.
Jonjo Shelvey (calf) and Matt Targett (heel) are expected to miss another four weeks of action, while Emil Krafth is unlikely to play again this season due to an ACL injury picked up last year.
This window is very different to last year – we were desperate for immediate addition 12 months ago – but Saturday’s defeat at Sheffield Wednesday was a timely reminder that several fringe men are well below the new standard set by our first-team stars.
Hopefully we have a few irons in the fire and can strengthen the squad sooner rather than later, as one or two injuries has the potential to derail our top four pursuit.
