Mick Quinn believes that Newcastle United must break the bank in order to sign Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi and Manchester City forward Kelechi Iheanacho.
Both players are being heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park in the summer following Newcastle’s automatic promotion to the Premier League next season.
Writing in his column for the Evening Chronicle, former Newcastle player Quinn believes that both strikers have the potential to score plenty of goals for Rafa Benitez’s side and he feels that the club should do everything within their power to sign them.
“One of the priorities for me is a centre-forward. You need a striker who is going to get you 15-20 goals in the Premier League if you want to finish mid-table or higher,” he wrote.
“That’s why I’m glad to see the links to Michy Batshuayi and Kelechi Iheanacho.
“Both are young, hungry – and, most importantly, where the back of the net is.
“I don’t know if either of them would be available for loan or whether it’d have to be a permanent deal, but if Newcastle have to pay big money – then they have to spend big money.
“A proven top-flight goal-scorer is going to cost £20million-plus at the very least – so Newcastle simply must go and break that record if they have to.”
Batshuayi has certainly caught the eye especially in the final matches of the season as he scored four goals in his last three Premier League appearances, including the goal that clinched the Premier League trophy for Chelsea in a 1-0 victory against West Brom.
Newcastle might be able to tempt the 23 year-old Belgian to the club because despite making 20 league appearances for the champions this season, he has only started one Premier League match throughout the entire season which came on the final day of the campaign.
Iheanacho is another player who has struggled for minutes on the pitch this season, only making 5 Premier League starts under new manager Pep Guardiola. The Nigerian still managed to contribute with seven goals in all competitions this season.
Both players have shown that when given the opportunity, they can score goals in the Premier League and they would be great assets to any club who are willing to make them first-team regulars.