OPINION
It will surely be an extremely busy transfer deadline day on Tyneside, with Rafael Benitez likely to use every last second to try and reinforce his squad before the window slams shut.
Central midfield is an area of the team that the Spaniard has looked to improve this off-season, without much success thus far. The Magpies have been linked with a move for Lille midfielder Thiago Maia, but that deal appears to have gone nowhere. Then there was Juventus star Stefano Sturaro, again a whisper on the wind that passed as quickly as it came.
Perhaps both those moves were deemed too expensive by the notoriously thrifty Newcastle hierarchy. In that case, the news that Premier League newcomers Wolves are close to a cut-price £12million deal for Anderlecht midfielder Leander Dendoncker should have got their attention.
£12million for a player of Dendoncker’s quality is an absolute steal, and the Magpies should be looking to elbow Wolves aside in the chase for the Belgium international. We know Mike Ashley loves a bargain, and £12million for Dendoncker would absolutely be that.
Benitez isn’t overly blessed with central midfielders at present. Jonjo Shelvey headlines the group currently available to him, with a combination of Ki Sung-yeung, Isaac Hayden, Mohamed Diame and Matt Ritchie set to play alongside the former Liverpool man.
That’s not a particularly stellar set of players by Premier League standards. You can see why Benitez has been trying to bolster the position all summer. The addition of Dendoncker would transform Newcastle’s midfield from a talented, if somewhat pedestrian, affair, to a rip-roaring combination of tenacity and technical brilliance.
The 23-year-old has six caps for Belgium, which is quite an achievement for a midfielder in this day and age – he even made their World Cup squad in Russia. He is extremely experienced for his age, too, having made 171 appearances for his club, scoring eleven goals in the process.
He would bring passing ability and a ferocious defensive determination to the Toon’s midfield. He would also represent a purchase for the future, too, as he could conceivably anchor the middle of the park on Tyneside for the next decade.
It will be tough for the club to beat Wolves to his signing at this late stage, but this is the sort of player Newcastle should be trying to attract. He’s young, full of potential, and is available at an extremely reasonable price. And if the Magpies don’t feel that they can beat out clubs like Wolves for players’ signatures then it’s time to give up.
Moving for Dendoncker is worth a try, even if the club gets an immediate knock-back. He’s too good a player, in a position of need for the club, to not even enquire. Come on Ashley, this one wouldn’t cost you much.
