Ahead of the January transfer window, some serious thought needs to go into who we can give Eddie Howe to ensure he has enough depth and quality to compete in each of the Premier League, Champions League and domestic cups.

Our style-of-play has nosedived without Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento starting at fullback, meanwhile we’re still lacking that clinical winger and creative outlet to help Nick Woltemade in the goalscoring department.

Though it’s in the heart of midfield that a lot of our flaws have been exposed: too often has the midfield trio been cut apart by simple incisive passes, and the need for a dedicated defensive midfielder is incredibly apparent.

So it’s no surprise to hear we’ve been linked with a Premier League star, but it’s hard to see if any deal comes to fruition in the upcoming window…

Everton star watched

According to The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder, Newcastle have been watching Everton’s James Garner, with the midfielder being in the final year of his current contract on Merseyside.

Things are purely at the ‘tracking’ stage right now, it would seem, as Ryder comments that no concrete talks have taken place between ourselves and David Moyes’ side so far.

It’s reckoned that Garner would cost just north of £20m: steep for a player whose current contract ends in June, but the Toffees can trigger a one year extension clause should they want to.

The 24-year-old has played every minute of Everton’s Premier League campaign so far, with a goal and assist to his name in 11 games.

Do we really need him?

If any midfielders do come in during the next couple of transfer windows, they need to either be clear upgrades or have immense potential to become world beaters on the level of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali.

Garner is a solid player, and he does have the Premier League experience Howe likes in his signings, it’s hard to see where he settles in the current midfield hierarchy.

He won’t start a high-level fixture ahead of any of our go-to starters, and we already have Lewis Miley, Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey as depth. At this stage, another young English midfielder would just take away minutes from Miley’s development.

So whilst we are tentatively linked with Garner, a move for a player like Kees Smit is far more exciting, makes more sense transfer-wise (why would we give a domestic opponent a financial boost), and stands a better chance of being flipped for profit further down the line if he were to struggle to break into the team.