According to reports from The Daily Mail, Newcastle United target Anwar El Ghazi is being discussed as a potential January signing for Manchester United.
The Ajax winger made his Eredivisie debut last season and finished the campaign with an impressive nine goals in 31 appearances. But he’s almost matched that total already this term, netting eight in ten outings, whilst averaging the most dribbles per match of any player in the Dutch top flight.
Earlier this month, The Telegraph revealed Newcastle are targeting the 20-year-old ahead of the January transfer window. Chief scout Graham Carr has watched the Netherlands international in action several times already and he fits perfectly with the club’s transfer policy of signing young players with potentially huge resale value.
According to The Mail, however, the relegation-battling Magpies could soon find themselves eclipsed in the race to sign El Ghazi by Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Louis van Gaal has insinuated he intends to sign a winger during the next transfer window on several occasions already this season and told reporters following United’s 2-0 win over West Brom on Saturday; “You have seen that now we play with Jesse Lingard and he is not the most speedy winger in the world and Mata is also not the most speedy winger in the world. So first we must first finish that problem and then we can see how we have to play and how we are in balance with playing with speedy wingers.”
El Ghazi is reportedly one of the names being discussed at Old Trafford, as a wide man realistically attainable in January, along with Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, Southampton’s Sadio Mane and Lazio’s Felipe Anderson.