Newcastle’s friendly with CSKA Moscow could see us come up against some players we could have signed.
The Magpies’ transfer record is nothing to get excited about, and there is an even longer list of players who we have failed to sign in years gone by. It was pretty amazing we were actually able to sign two players in January, let alone break our transfer record on Miguel Almiron.
Let’s take a look at three players from the CSKA Moscow squad who we have been linked with in the past.
Abel Hernandez
In April 2018, the Daily Mail reported that Newcastle were interested in the then Hull City striker.
Hernandez’s contract was winding down, so he would’ve been a typical Mike Ashley signing. Instead though, it was CSKA Moscow who snapped up the Uruguayan on a free.
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How has he done? Not brilliantly, scoring just twice since arriving in Russia.
Considering we got Salomon Rondon last summer, it doesn’t seem like we missed out on Hernandez.
Alan Dzagoev
The report states that the Magpies were considering launching a £10million bid for the midfielder, as they looked to distance themselves from the relegation zone.
Neither happened. Dzagoev didn’t arrive that January, and Newcastle were in the bottom three come May.
Nikola Vlasic
Two of those deals happened, but instead Vlasic headed to Moscow. The young midfielder had a tough first at Goodison Park, but has thrived out on loan. He even scored the winner in CSKA’s win over Real Madrid in the Champions League in October last year.
Would he have improved Benitez’s squad? And will any of these players play a key role in the friendly this afternoon?