In his latest piece for The Athletic, Chris Waugh has been answering questions on links to Bryan Mbeumo and confirmed that the club have been tracking Lille’s Jonathan David and Burnley stopper James Trafford ahead of the January window.
He reports that the club are yet to identify ‘top targets’ heading into the new year, but confirms that Mbeumo has been discussed internally, with the Brentford star having plenty of admirers inside St James’ Park.
However, Waugh feels a January move ‘seems a stretch’. Not only because Brentford are ‘hard sellers’ who will be hugely reluctant to sell their top-scorer mid-season, but due to the fact we’d have to pay a premium for a Premier League proven winger who is ‘slightly older than the kind of player Paul Mitchell would ideally recruit’ at 25.
Mitchell has also hinted at widening our search for new signings, suggesting we could target hidden gems from overseas who could grow under Eddie Howe’s coaching over proven Premier League stars who would be ready-made but expensive. The latter would be preferable, especially when we need a top-quality right winger, yet PSR concerns could limit who we’re able to recruit this winter.
Waugh adds that Eddie Howe will meet with Toon chiefs and our recruitment team to finalise our January plans later this month, suggesting nothing has been decided as of yet.
Mentions for Jonathan David and James Trafford are also intriguing. David scored his fourth Champions League goal in four games this week and is out of contract next summer, while Trafford’s name isn’t going away as another ‘project’ signing and potential long-term replacement for Nick Pope.
