OPINION
Newcastle United must sell Isaac Hayden this summer as with Brighton & Hove Albion reportedly willing to pay £10million for him it’s too good an opportunity to pass up.
The Chronicle previously claimed that the Seagulls wanted the 23-year-old defensive Magpies midfielder this summer after he handed in a transfer request in order to move closer to his family.
According to the newspaper Chris Hughton’s side were willing to pay £10million in order to acquire Hayden despite it been widely reported that the midfielder was seeking an exit.
However Rafa Benitez has since revealed that the club aim to do everything they can to keep the 6ft 1in tall midfielder (Transfermarkt) at St James Park.
“We will try to help him because he said he has personal problems, try to help in the best way possible,” said the Magpies manager, as quoted by the Chronicle.
“At the same time, I have to protect the team and the club.
“We will see if we can find the best solution possible but we want to keep him because he’s an important player for us.”
While Hayden clearly could provide cover for the first-team, his performances for the club last season were disappointing to say the least.
The midfielder featured 23 times for the Magpies across all competitions and struggled to perform to the standard expected of him on several occasions.
In fact Hayden’s lacklustre displays saw him lose his place in Benitez’s side as he regularly featured in the opening weeks of the 2017/18 campaign but struggled to appear in the second-half of the season for his side.
While Benitez will no doubt want to ensure that his side are covered against injuries, when you consider that the Seagulls are willing to pay £10million for a player who wants to leave and failed to impress last season, the club shouldn’t rejected their reported interest.
Especially as selling Hayden for that amount would hand the Magpies a significant return on the original £1million, as stated by the Chronicle, that they paid Arsenal for him in 2016.
Also as Benitez revealed in a recent interview with Sky Sports that the club needed to “wheel and deal” to get transfers done this summer it suggests that players need to be sold to raise funds to see new recruit arrives.
Given this likely scenario then the club are better off accepting an offer in the region of £10million for Hayden in order to reinvest it in bringing new recruits to the club.
This all means that the Magpies must sell Hayden as if the reported £10million interest from Brighton for the midfielder is genuine, then it’s simply too good to ignore.
