Newcastle United are giving themselves a great chance of staying in the Premier League – and Donny van de Beek might be rejecting turning down a January move to the club.
The Magpies continued their fine form on Saturday, beating Brentford 2-0.
Joelinton and Joe Willock were the goalscorers for the visitors, who were far and away the better side down in the capital.
Newcastle were able to exercise control fairly easily, with Josh Dasilva receiving a red card in the first-half.
It was Newcastle’s seventh straight Premier League game without defeat, and optimism is currently soaring at the club.
The picture certainly looks much better than before the January transfer window.
Newcastle headed into the window second-bottom, and the club’s league position proved problematic when it came to landing new players.
A number of targets just didn’t want to risk signing for the club due to the threat of relegation.
One such player was van de Beek, 24, who later completed a loan move to Everton.
Newcastle were reportedly interested in the Netherlands international (Telegraph), but the former Ajax maestro decided to head to Merseyside instead.
So far, van de Beek has made four appearances for the Toffees, including against Newcastle earlier this month.
Three of those four appearances have resulted in defeat, which have seen Everton slip to 17th, meaning they are now even more embroiled in the relegation battle van de Beek didn’t want than Newcastle.
van de Beek might be regretting rejecting high-flying Newcastle
Of course, there is still a lot of football to be played this season.
At the moment, it’s looking good for the Magpies, with Eddie Howe having drawn an amazing reaction from his squad in recent weeks.
Confidence is oozing throughout the squad now, and the players are clearly relishing life under him.
One wonders what van de Beek might be thinking right now.
Everton are in a world of trouble. They have Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves in the league next, followed by Newcastle again.
It’s going to take their players time to get used to Frank Lampard’s methods, and there isn’t much time left.
Newcastle still have lots to do. But the club is currently in a much better place than Everton right now.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
