Newcastle United are set to complete the loan signing of Kenedy from Chelsea this week, according to a reliable journalist.
The Daily Mail head of sport Lee Clayton reported on his personal Twitter account on Sunday evening that the left-sided attacker will return to St James’ Park for a second loan spell.
Kenedy is set to spend the entirety of the 2018-19 campaign at Newcastle in a deal mastermind by manager Rafael Benitez.
One year loan deal for Kenedy to return to Newcastle will be announced this week. He was a popular signing last season. Rafa Benitez crucial to the deal #NUFC
— Lee Clayton (@LeeClayton_) July 8, 2018
Good move for Newcastle?
Definitely. Kenedy will bring pace, penetration and A-list attacking power to a forward line that was one-dimensional for so much of last season before he arrived in January. It was no coincidence that Newcastle’s uplift in form in the second half of the campaign came as defences struggled to cope with the directness of the Brazilian. His arrival is a major boost for Newcastle but, make no mistake, they need more attacking power to complement the capture of Kenedy. He is is a brilliant capture but can’t do it all on his own and a top-class centre-forward must be recruited before the 9 August cut-off for permanent signings.
This Is Futbol rating 8/10
Likely to happen?
The well-connected Clayton is a very reliable source of football transfer news, so expect this deal to go through in the coming days, barring a last-minute collapse in talks. With Newcastle only having recruited a single player so far this window – the goalkeeper Martin Dubravka – the capture of Kenedy is a crucial piece of business.
This Is Futbol rating 9/10