Newcastle United’s misery deepened with their 3-2 defeat at the hand of Leicester City. Simultaneously this is the seventh match in which they dropped points and it is looking a very shaky road ahead for the Magpies.
Rafa Benitez’s side made a very exciting start to the season following their direct promotion from the Championship but they couldn’t keep it running as it has been a very shoddy affair for them.
According to reports, Newcastle have set their sights on Bristol City midfielder Josh Brownhill. The 21-year-old has become the latest sensation in the Championship and Newcastle have emerged as one of the frontrunners in his pursuit.
With their failure to lure any top players in the summer window, Benitez is likely to go big in January. He doesn’t have the dearest of relationship with owner Mike Ashley as the latter refused to shell out the desired money he had promised following their brilliant season in the second tier, which eventually led them to the title.
But with Newcastle falling apart in the Premier League Benitez has urged the owner to ring in the cash in January to meet his requirements. “We had a meeting in May, and I’m expecting the money we weren’t spending (in the summer) could be available, so hopefully we can sit down and see where we are.”
Takeover talks have been going on in full swing as potential buyer Amanda Staveley had a number of meetings with the current Magpies owner. If the ownership changes, it would be a quite win-win situation for Benitez as the new owner is likely to infuse a good amount of money into the club in a bid to help the gaffer with his transfer wishlist.
Central midfield has been a problematic area for Benitez as he has faced several problems with it. Mikel Merino has been a rage this season but he has had his fair share of injury problems while the like of Mo Diame hasn’t been at his very best.
Therefore depth in the middle of the pitch would be welcome wholeheartedly. Brownhill has been a crucial part of the current Championship campaign and it would be a bit hard for the Toon to leverage a deal.
The Robins are currently very well placed in the third position and will have a very good chance to make it to the automatic promotional spot. So Benitez needs to come up with a very good convincing plan to lure the player to Tyneside in the near future.
