As reported by The Athletic, Newcastle coach Graeme Jones has been a big ‘advocate’ for signing of Youri Tielemans – a player he knows very well from his time with the Belgium national squad.
We have been linked with the 25-year-old for some time now, with the same report stating that our recruitment team have been watching the soon-to-be out of contract midfielder very closely
Jones had been assistant to Roberto Martinez during his spells at Wigan and Everton and followed him into international football when he took over as the Belgian head coach back in 2016.
As a result, it’s likely the 52-year-old Geordie has a good idea of Tielemans’ character – something Howe will be keen to know more about given the tight-knit nature of the current squad.
A move looks very much on the cards following Brendan Rodger’s recent comments, where he encouraged the club to cash in on any unsettled stars if their heads have been turned.
It remains to be seen if we’ll up our interest in Tielemans, but he’d tick a few boxes as a Premier League proven operator who could be available at a cut-price fee.
