Newcastle United scout Champions League winger with ‘great energy’ who dribbles more often than Harvey Barnes

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Newcastle United have enjoyed some success when shopping in the Ligue 1 market of late.

Indeed, almost ten years on from the French revolution at Newcastle under Graham Carr, the club went back to the French top flight for two key additions.

Newcastle first brought in Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon and Sven Botman from Lille, both of whom have gone on to be major success stories.

Guimaraes and Botman are among Newcastle’s best signings of the PIF era and continue to play crucial roles under manager Eddie Howe.

Now, it seems as if Newcastle could again look towards Lille for a potential new recruit.

Newcastle United scouting Hakon Arnar Haraldsson

According to the Daily Mail, Newcastle are among the clubs scouting Lille winger Hakon Arnar Haraldsson.

While Newcastle have been linked with right wingers for what feels like an age, the 21-year-old Iceland winger generally operates on the left. That feels particularly interesting given Harvey Barnes has been linked with a move away from Newcastle.

The report suggests Newcastle’s chief scout Steve Nickson watched Haraldsson in action for Lille against Nice, while Manchester United scouts are also said to have been in attendance.

As per FC Copenhagen’s official website, Haraldsson has been hailed for his “great energy” and recently played for Lille against Liverpool in the Champions League.

• READ MORE: Who is Harvey Barnes? Profile, Girlfriend, Dad, Salary, Socials

Newcastle target Hakon Arnar Haraldsson compared to Harvey Barnes

Barnes is said to be frustrated at Newcastle given a lack of regular game time. Still, with Anthony Gordon his main competition on the left wing, it would seem unlikely that the former Leicester man will be winning that battle any time soon.

With that in mind, selling the 27-year-old may make financial sense. Newcastle value Barnes at £45million and perhaps bringing in a younger (and potentially cheaper) back-up to Gordon would allow those funds to be reinvested elsewhere.

As soon is shown above, Haraldsson beats Barnes on a per-game basis in a number of key metrics. Still, it of course should be stressed that Ligue 1 is perhaps not quite up to the same standard as the Premier League.

However, were Barnes to push to leave, Haraldsson looks a logical replacement.