With Joelinton likely to be missing for the remainder of the season Newcastle United will need to change their approach to January's business.
The club appear to be playing a dangerous game this winter in terms of incoming recruits as a way to shine a spotlight on the current FFP/PSR rules, but with another big player set to be ruled out for the rest of the campaign, surely something has to give.
The Telegraph certainly think so and they believe that Newcastle have identified Amadou Onana as a possible target this month to replace Joelinton/Sandro Tonali.
This report comes off the back of concerns that Joelinton may be sold in the summer as talks have stalled over a contract, meaning the Brazilian could have played his last game for the Toon.
Onana isn't a new name to be linked with Newcastle, but given the current situation, the link carries more weight now.
Newcastle could look to take advantage of Everton's current financial situation and try to pick up the 22-year-old Senegalese midfielder, but the Toffees are said to want around £50million which will make things very difficult for Newcastle right now.
We have suggested that given the urgency of the situation, Newcastle could dip into their summer budget early to make a deal or two happen this winter, but that would also weaken their position with their current fight against FFP.
Onana has played 17 games for Everton in the Premier League this season as a defensive midfielder, even scoring once. He's been a big part of their upturn in form under Sean Dyche.
We'd happily see Newcastle make a move for Onana. He's already got the Premier League experience that we need, but at 22 he's got so much room to become even better which makes him an ideal Newcastle signing. Let's hope this one has some truth to it.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |