Newcastle United are now looking to bring in a new attacking midfielder before next week’s transfer deadline, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The transfer guru has been speaking on the Que Golazo YouTube channel to discuss the Toon’s transfer plans following their impressive display this past weekend at St. James’ Park.
It is believed Eddie Howe’s attacking options could soon be boosted by the potential arrival of Joao Pedro from Watford, who would become their first attacking addition of the summer.
Another player who has been linked with interest from the Magpies is Lucas Paqueta, a player who Newcastle are now reportedly willing to pursue in the final week of this summer’s window.
And Romano believes they are indeed still in the market for a creative midfielder before the window closes next week having seen their efforts to sign James Maddison fall flat.
He said: “They are doing great, and when you do great, your strategy is working – this is the message from Newcastle and we have always been speaking highly of Newcastle on how they are acting on the market here on Que Golazo many times.
“And I still think that they are doing very well. For example, they want a creative midfielder. They submitted the proposals for Maddison from Leicester. Leicester said no many times. But they want that kind of player, a creative midfielder with high quality, a player who could be a gamechanger for Newcastle. But they will go for it only in case they find the right one.”
TIF Thoughts on Romano’s comments…
We do think Newcastle should be looking to strengthen their options in midfield over the next week, with their game against Manchester City highlighting a serious lack of squad depth.
Can NUFC make a push for Europe this season?
Yes
No
It was a seriously impressive showing from Howe’s men, however, his options from the bench do leave a lot to be desired, with Jacob Murphy, Ryan Fraser, Chris Wood and youngster Elliot Anderson to choose from in an attacking sense.
For a club that could potentially be looking to knock on the door of a Europa Conference League push, these options off the bench do not provide a great deal of inspiration.
And if Newcastle do pick up an injury to one of their key attacking players, as it stands, we do not feel they currently have options off the bench to maintain the quality of the first XI, with just eight league goals between Murphy, Fraser and Wood last season.