Journalist George Caulkin has claimed on the latest episode of Pod on the Tyne that Newcastle United are slightly worried about their midfield options.
Newcastle endured a tough night as they fell behind to Tranmere Rovers in the first half of their Carabao Cup tie after Eddie Howe made 10 changes to the side he picked last weekend, although his side did finally come through victorious.
Howe opted to stick with his 4-3-3 formation last night and selected a midfield trio of Sean Longstaff, Joe Willock and Elliot Anderson, although Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes were perhaps reluctantly used in the second half, highlighting how thin the options really are in the middle of the pitch.
Caulkin believes that Newcastle are slightly worried about their midfield options, especially following the injury to Jonjo Shelvey.
He said: “The person I spoke to at the top of the club last week about where things stood a bit less than two weeks to go before the window [shuts] was that midfield position, which I didn’t think necessarily that we’d known or sort of understood was a priority for them.
“But they were concerned, they are concerned – or mindful is probably the right word of Jonjo Shelvey’s absence for the first half of the season more or less, and so that is a position that they’re actively looking at.
Would Gallagher start for Newcastle?
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“So is it two forward players? Is it a forward and an attacking midfielder? Is it a deep-lying midfielder? Because we know that Shelvey plays very deep and that allows Bruno to get a bit further forward.
“Things do feel very fluid – we know that they were talking to Chelsea about loan players after the Brighton match, so the hope is that they could sign two permanently, but it does still feel very fluid at the minute.”
TIF Thoughts on Newcastle’s midfielder pursuit…
The fact that Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi were pictured at Stamford Bridge after Newcastle’s 0-0 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion a few weeks ago would suggest that someone from the Blues could arrive on Tyneside.
Luke Edwards has recently reported that Newcastle are pushing very hard to land Conor Gallagher on loan for the rest of the season, which would be a major coup given there is competition for his signature from the likes of West Ham United and Crystal Palace.
Given Shelvey is set to miss plenty of football, Howe will recognise that his squad are only one more injury away from struggling for numbers and perhaps having to rely more heavily on youngsters like Anderson, which wouldn’t be fair on the teenager, nor something Howe would likely wish to do, so a new arrival in midfield could well arrive.