OPINION
Newcastle United must attempt to sign Portugal international Fábio Coentrão in the January transfer window with Rafa Benitez still short of quality options at left-back.
Paul Dummett is basically the only Magpies player who is any good in the left-back position and the thought of playing outcast Achraf Lazaar in his absence sees Benitez call on Chelsea loanee Kenedy to fill the void in that position instead.
While Kenedy can play there and Dummett is a decent enough player, it would be a perfect piece of business if Benitez attempted to sign his former Real Madrid player Coentrão in the winter to add plenty of strength in depth to that position.
It was not very long ago when Coentrão was among the elite left-backs in European football, but he quit Spanish giants Madrid in the summer to return to his first ever club Rio Ave.
It is a shock to see a player of Coentrão’s quality playing for a fairly small Portuguese club, especially when the 52-times capped international was playing regularly for Sporting CP on loan last season and made 106 appearances across all competitions at the Bernabeu.
Even though the 30-year-old only signed for Rio Ave at the end of August, he would surely quit them to have one last go at playing in a major European league in England.
The Premier League would be irresistible to him and given the fact that Rio Ave are by no means a big club, the ex-Real Madrid left-back could be available for quite a low price.
Mike Ashley might be inclined to give Benitez the money to go out and get Coentrão as well because he could be a bargain signing and would add some real quality to an area of the squad that needs bolstering.