A top class No.10

Amid Rafa Benitez’s rebuild on Tyneside has it all. Karl Darlow looks like a man who can sit between the sticks for years to come, Jamaal Lascelles is growing into the kind of captain the Toon Army have been waiting for and Jonjo Shelvey is the deep-lying playmaker we’ve missed since Yohan Cabaye.

Throw an improving Aleksandar Mitrovic and a lethal Dwight Gayle into the mix and the only thing missing from the spine of a great team is a silky No.10 to finish off a probable 4-2-3-1 formation

Ayoze Perez’s nosediving form in black and white has been sad to watch and surely Mo Diame is but a short-term fix to help get the Magpies promoted.

Considering the options currently available to Benitez in that berth, moving for a sparkling schemer to play off the central striker should be a priority.