Transfer insider, Dean Jones has claimed that Newcastle could return in the summer with offers for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Scott McTominay of Chelsea and Manchester United respectively.
Speaking to GiveMeSport, Dean Jones said: “I know people like to imagine that there will be fancy names coming into Newcastle, but it’s just not the way they’ve been doing things. They want players that fit roles and there’ll be talk about Ruben Neves and Caicedo and they’ll definitely like those players. There are also players like Loftus-Cheek, Scott McTominay, that are actually going to be serious targets at the end of this season.”
Midfield has to be a priority for Eddie Howe this summer
Newcastle lost Jonjo Shelvey late on in the January transfer window and as such weren’t able to find a replacement in time. It was less than ideal at the time and it was made to look even worse when Bruno Guimaraes picked up a straight red card in the game against Southampton in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi final.
Then add to that an injury to Joe Willock and Eddie Howe found himself scrambling for midfield cover going into the crunch match with Liverpool, opting to give young Elliot Anderson his first Premier League start.
It makes sense then, that Newcastle will be prioritising midfielders when the summer transfer window opens and have already identified Chelsea’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Manchester United’s Scott McTominay as ideal targets.
Loftus-Cheek‘s name has been doing the rounds for a while, even coming into the frame as a deal that Newcastle were exploring as a deadline day move in January. He is finding game time difficult to come by at Chelsea due to their overloaded midfield.
Meanwhile, Scott McTominay has been on Eddie Howe’s wishlist for a while also, but his inclusion on said list hasn’t been met with great excitement by the Toon Army. However, as Dean Jones points out: “I know people like to imagine that there will be fancy names coming into Newcastle, but it’s just not the way they’ve been doing things.”
Are they an improvement on what we already have?
McTominay has two years remaining on his £60k-a-week contract at his boyhood club and may prove to be a difficult one to prise away, especially given Erik Ten Hag’s reluctance to sell from his first-team squad.
If either rumour is true, I’d be hoping for a deal for Loftus-Cheek. McTominay isn’t a bad player by any means, but I don’t think he would improve the squad. I’d rather have Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff than McTominay, but I feel that Loftus-Cheek represents a better option than either of those two.
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