‘No active move’: Club do not expect their £15m player to join Newcastle in January

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Newcastle United’s January transfer hopes have been dealt a blow as one of their targets is now expected to stay at this club this month.

Newcastle have been keeping a close eye on Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy who has enjoyed a breakthrough year in the Bundesliga and has a release clause of around £15m.

However, journalist Florian Plettenberg is now claiming that the striker is set to stay in Germany due to being away at AFCON this month and his club valuing him too highly.

Guirassy could have been perfect for Newcastle

Newcastle and Eddie Howe are currently looking to improve the team across the pitch, but they have identified three key positions which they want to bring in in January.

A new attacker is one of those that Howe is keen to find, and Guirassy could have been the perfect addition to help support Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson leading the line for Newcastle.

Both of the team’s current striker’s are two of the most clinical in the Premier League, but their fitness record means that they can’t be relied on for an entire season and a third-choice back up is needed.

Having scored 17 goals in 14 Bundesliga games, the Guinea international would have been an ideal candidate to use in that role and it’s likely that he would not have demanded to be starting every game.

Newcastle’s January window is starting to look bleak

Newcastle need to add more players to their squad this month or they risk being left behind by teams who they were comfortably better than last season, and the decline has already started.

So far this month it feels like it’s only been bad news after bad news following the rumours that a move for one of their key targets in Kalvin Phillips now looks to be off the table as they cannot afford the loan fee.

That will be sounding alarm bells in the minds of Newcastle supporters who will have entered the January window with optimism despite a terrible run of games that has seen them lose seven of their last eight.

Though it’s clear now that Guirassy is unavailable for a transfer, even if he was it seems impossible for Newcastle to spend as much as £15m on one player, a worrying sign indeed.