29-year-old Newcastle player confirms club approached him in January, he wasn’t interested

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A senior Newcastle United player has confirmed that he was approached by another club in the January transfer window, though he turned them down.

Newcastle were never likely to bring in new faces in January due to a lack of finances, but they came close to selling quite a few first-team players who attracted a lot of interest.

Emil Krafth was apparently one of those as the defender confirmed to Fotbollskanalen in an interview where he claimed they spoke to his agent but he was always committed to Newcastle.

Krafth confirms he’s ‘not done’ at Newcastle

Krafth hasn’t exactly been a key player for Newcastle with Tino Livramento and Kieran Trippier ahead of him at right-back, but he’s been a model professional in his five years on Tyneside.

The Swedish international has always been a reliable option when called upon like when Trippier was out for months with a foot injury, but even when he’s not playing he’s happy to play a supportive role off of the pitch.

Krafth is exactly the type of player you need to fill out a squad – not one who necessarily improves the first-team when he steps in, but can be depended on and won’t make an issue if he’s not selected.

He was also very unfortunate to sustain a serious ACL injury last season that pretty much kept him out for the entire year, and after he had probably had his best run of form in the team.

He could have opted to leave the club upon the arrival of Livramento, but after speaking with Eddie Howe in January he committed his future to the club.

In the interview, Krafth said: “They were a bit optimistic. I feel that I have a few years left abroad before that question should be addressed. But I feel that I’m not done abroad.”

When asked if Malmo approached him, Krafth said: “Yes, they checked with the agent. I don’t think it was more than that.”

Krafth’s role at Newcastle puts him in Sweden’s plans

The 29-year-old right-back is now joining teammate Alexander Isak on international duty with Sweden, but should he move back home he may have to forfeit his position with the national team.

It’s likely that his position at a Premier League club is valued very highly by the head coach who wants the very best and most experienced players in his team, and he won’t be challenged enough in the Swedish division.

This is still obviously very important to him and, even though he’s not a regular at Newcastle, he’ll back himself to still have a good few years competing at the highest level.

It also gives Newcastle a lot of strength in depth in that position, something they desperately need elsewhere on the pitch, so keeping him on saves them a decent chunk of money to invest in other positions.