OPINION
Newcastle United must hijack Premier League rivals Fulham’s reported pursuit of Young Boys defender Kevin Mbabu.
The Cottagers are thought to be chasing the 23-year-old right back’s services, as reported by Sky Sports, as they’re looking for a replacement for Ryan Fredericks who departed to join West Ham this summer.
According to the broadcaster’s report Fulham are yet to make an official offer for Mbabu who is valued as being worth £10million and this should give Rafa Benitez’s side have enough time to find the funds to put an offer together to bring the defender to St James Park instead.
Mbabu would be a familiar face to Magpies supporters as he previously played for the club and only left last summer.
The speedy 23-year-old managed to make only three appearances for the senior side during his time at St James Park with him suffering some misfortune with injuries while at the club that severely damaged his chance of succeeding.
However Magpies fans will fondly remember his performance against Chelsea where he ended up keeping Eden Hazard in his back pocket for the whole game.
Despite it only being a year since Mbabu departed he has transformed his career and has excelled while at Young Boys.
The 23-year-old featured 44 times for the Swiss side across all competitions last season and played a crucial part in his side ending up as league champions.
After regularly featuring for a side Mbabu has clearly put his past injury problems behind him and is looking better than ever.
The speed demon is now able to use his blistering pace to great effect and is destined to improve further due to still only being 23-years-old.
As Benitez has made it a priority to sign a new right-back this summer, as reported by the Chronicle, the club must look to welcome back Mbabu as he is the perfect option to sign.
This all means that the Magpies should hijack Fulham’s pursuit of their former player this summer as the speed demon is now ready to flourish at St James Park.
