Newcastle United

£80,000-a-week deal on the table for Ritchie

|
Image for £80,000-a-week deal on the table for Ritchie

Stoke City have tabled a contract offer to Newcastle United winger Matt Ritchie worth £80,000-a-week, according to the Sun.

The newspaper claim the Championship club are willing to spend big to entice the wide man, who is a £15million target, to the Bet 365 next season despite their relegation from the top tier.

The Sun report that Stoke are also set to offer England number two Jack Butland a similar deal to fend off interest from big guns Chelsea and Liverpool.

Good move for Newcastle?

It is only acceptable for Newcastle to lose Ritchie if they bring in a replacement of equivalent calibre, preferably an upgrade. The right-sided winger is a solid performer who showed last season he can cut it in the Premier League, scoring three goals and supplying six assists from his 32 Premier League starts. The word is that United need to sell to buy, and that Rafael Benitez has set his sights on attacking wide men Kenedy and Andros Townsend. Both are more exciting and potentially destructive forwards than Ritchie, and it would be a decent move for the Toon if Ritchie was sold and replaced by one or, preferably, both.

This Is Futbol rating 6/10

Likely to happen?

Given the numbers being talked about and the number of reports from mainstream publications strongly linking Stoke with Ritchie, it appears the deal is on the cards. Assuming a fee can be agreed, it appears Benitez is willing to cash in on Ritchie and get the deal done in order to bring in new players. Expect this one to go through before the transfer window cut-off.

This Is Futbol rating 8/10

Share this article