‘Jump at the chance’… Ally McCoist says £20m England international would love to join Newcastle

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Ally McCoist has suggested that Newcastle United should be jumping at the chance to sign one midfielder who is now looking for a new move.

Newcastle have very recently been linked with a move for Jordan Henderson to solve their injury crisis, though his ties with Sunderland make it difficult to see a deal happening.

Speaking on talkSPORT, McCoist has claimed that Henderson is the perfect profile for Newcastle to temporarily replace Sandro Tonali with for the rest of the season.

McCoist says Henderson is the perfect midfielder for Newcastle

In terms of profile alone, yes, Henderson would be an experienced Premier League midfielder who has played at the very highest level and would bring a lot to this Newcastle team.

But supporters of the club aren’t exactly just going to forget the fact that the 33-year-old was born and raised in Sunderland and has been booed every time he’s visited St James’ Park regardless of who he was playing for.

It’s like suggesting that Jordan Pickford would be good for Newcastle. Obviously, he’s a great goalkeeper who is much better with the ball at his feet than Nick Pope, so in that instance it makes sense, but suggesting that to a Newcastle fan would be like committing a crime.

Henderson does look to be on the move after things didn’t work out at Al Ettifaq, and McCoist is adamant that the £20m midfielder could return to the league with Newcastle.

On the show, McCoist said: “I think he would absolutely jump at the chance of going to somewhere like Newcastle United.

“The fact he’s a Sunderland lad might have something to do with it, but in terms of a move I think that would make sense to all parties.

“Of course, they’ve got well-documented injury problems. Tonali just being one of them, not being an injury obviously, we know his problems.

“You can sit here and name seven or eight teams that Jordan Henderson can play for in the Premier League right now, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.

“But then there is the factor, him coming home, how does it look for the Saudi League and all that stuff? But, you can’t keep an unhappy player.

“If he wants to come back, as I said, you could name seven or eight teams that he could play for right now in the top flight.”

Newcastle can’t even consider move for Henderson

Some things are just bigger than making what you think might be a good move on paper, and this is certainly a perfect example of that.

While his profile may fit what Newcastle are looking for, the backlash that would come with the newest that the owners were even entertaining the idea of bringing Henderson to Tyneside wouldn’t be worth whatever he adds to the team.

Ask any supporter of the club and 99 times out of 100 they would claim they’d rather go without any new additions in January than sign a staunch Sunderland fan and former player.

The media can stir up whatever rumours they like, but the Newcastle owners have proven to be very intelligent when it comes to making decisions that will please the fanbase, so it’s hard to see this materialising.