Alan Shearer has listed the three positions he think Newcastle United will need to bring in in January and jokes that one dream player was close to joining.
Newcastle’s injury crisis this season has left them a little short in most positions, but the Geordie legend has managed to narrow it down to three priorities.
On The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer suggested that Newcastle need to be looking for a new goalkeeper, midfielder and striker while also jokingly claiming that they had come close to signing Kylian Mbappe.
Shearer wants three big upgrades for Newcastle
Despite Martin Dubravka’s heroics against both Liverpool and Sunderland, Shearer is still not convinced that the Slovakian is capable of filling in the shoes of the injured Nick Pope.
The Premier League top scorer also wants to bring someone in to sure up the midfield with so many injuries limiting who Eddie Howe can play and effectively forcing him to use 17-year-old Lewis Miley more than he would like.
Kalvin Phillips would be the obvious choice given how heavily he has been linked, though even that move looks like it could fall through because of the loan fee that Manchester City are demanding.
Finally, Shearer also wants another goalscorer, the only problem with that is so does everyone else. Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak are brilliant but unreliable and Newcastle need a third choice if they are to be competing with the best.
On the podcast, Shearer said: “I think we need a goalkeeper, I think we need a midfielder and we need a forward, so good luck trying to find a goalscorer because there’s so many after a goalscorer, so that’s the dream one.”
Lineker asked: “Mbappe? He has to leave doesn’t he.”
Shearer added: “Yeah I think so, we put a bid in for him, we tried to tap him up but instead of choosing Newcastle he’s chosen Real Madrid.”
Newcastle need to get back into Europe
Not only is there the obvious incentive of playing some of the best teams on the continent as well as the added revenue, but Newcastle also need Europe as a pulling factor to sign better players.
It would also be a huge help in keeping their current stars with the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Isak and Sven Botman all wanting to play Champions League football and they may look to leave if they can’t get it on Tyneside.
It’s a tough ask given their current Premier League position of ninth, but the Europa League is certainly not off the cards and bringing in three new players would be a huge boost to their European hopes.
Newcastle have got two tough games in Manchester City and Aston Villa but the fixture list looks a lot kinder after that when the team must go on a very positive run.
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