Emil Krafth is set to be Newcastle’s fourth signing of the summer. The Swedish international is in Newcastle, finalising his move from French side Amiens.
Steve Bruce has been desperate to add another right-back to his squad, and he has finally got his man. After adding Jetro Willems last week, Newcastle have added much needed depth in the fullback department.
Over the past two seasons, DeAndre Yedlin and Javi Manquillo have battled for the position on the right side of defence. Both players have had good spells, and both have had bad spells. They’ve been solid enough in the Premier League, but there is clearly room for improvement.
The big question is will Krafth be a significant improvement? On the face of it, it’s hard to be too optimistic. The 25-year-old is only costing £5 million, which is an absolute bargain in the current financial climate.
And it’s not like his contract was winding down, he’d only just signed a permanent deal with Amiens.
However, it’s not fair to write a player off just because of his price tag. Krafth deserves as much of a chance to succeed as Willems, Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin.
But with money surely left in the pot, why didn’t we spend a bit more cash on a household name like Djibril Sidibe or someone similar?
Krafth could prove to be an upgrade on Yedlin and Manquillo, but there’s no guarantee.
It seems like another case of Newcastle taking a transfer risk on a cheaper player rather than paying big money for a ready-made star. This doesn’t mean Krafth won’t be a hit, hopefully he is, but his arrival is definitely a risk.
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