Report: Newcastle are now 'confident' in signing £50m midfielder in January

The January transfer window opens in just a few days time and Newcastle United absolutely must be active in it to rescue their season.

There are several positions that need addressing and several players whose names pop up time and time again.

One such name is that of Kalvin Phillips who has been linked with a move to Newcastle since the summer. Back then Phillips opted to stay and fight for a place at Manchester City but now it's pretty clear he's not part of Pep Guardiola's plans and as such will be willing to move in January.

Newcastle feel they can make a deal that suits everyone

Now The Telegraph has reported that Newcastle are 'confident' they can work out a deal that suits all parties and that the move will go through in the January window.

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It had been recently reported that Man City want £50million for Phillips but there's no way Newcastle will pay that much for him.

It's more likely that Newcastle will go in with a loan offer for Phillips, which means the Magpies stay within their FFP restrictions, Phillips moves to a club where he'll get game time and Man City save a bit of money on wages for a few months. Everyone's a winner.

Could Phillips' lack of match sharpness be an issue?

Our concern is still that we'll hardly see the best of him in the second half of the season. He may be training well and still fit, but his match sharpness will take some work so it's going to be a while before we see him at his full potential.

Although, given how much Nottingham Forest exposed our clear lack of a number six on Boxing Day, surely even a static training dummy would be an improvement in that holding role.

Kalvin Phillips has been consistently linked to Newcastle, so it feels like there could be some truth in this one. Whether a deal can be reached, we don't know, but we do think an approach will be made next month.