Newcastle currently have a very young midfield group in both Longstaff brothers and Isaac Hayden, with the experienced Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung Yueng’s form not justifying selection for them.
So bringing in some quality experience to help nurture the young trio would be beneficial to the Magpies for both the short-term, and the long-term.
Adam Lallana at Liverpool is just the type of player Newcastle need, and the Liverpool and England midfielder is out of contract next summer.
If we could bring someone like him in on a free transfer, it would surely be a no-brainer, as he can bring something extra to our current midfield set-up, while our younger players could also learn a lot from him.
As he is due to be a free agent in June, he is likely to be allowed to speak to other clubs in the new year, meaning Newcastle should work on speaking to the player, and try to arrange a pre-contract agreement with the former Southampton star.
Of course, it would depend on whether Newcastle were able to avoid relegation this season, but we have to assume that there will be three teams worse than us by time May comes around, and plan for Premier League football next season.
Lallana scored the equaliser for Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday, after coming on from the bench, but he is surely too good a player to be given the odd 15 minutes in games, and only playing League Cup football.
After that game, he claimed he still has a role to play at Liverpool this season, but did not mention anything about his future plans, which is may see him decide to leave.
Lallana could be the fulcrum of Newcastle’s midfield next season
Newcastle should make him an integral part of our first-team, and let him know as much, and that would hopefully lure him to Tyneside when his current Anfield deal expires.
Of course, Lallana will be 32 when next season starts, but with him not having played much football recently, he should still have a good year or two in his legs, and Newcastle have signed players outside their transfer remit before.
While, in many ways, I understand Mike Ashley’s thinking on buying young talent, but without mixing that up with top quality experience, it is always unlikely to succeed, which is why a free deal for Lallana would make perfect sense for Newcastle.
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