Rafa Benitez’s ideal signing for Newcastle United in January would be Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, according to the Chronicle.
The newspaper claim that the 22-year-old would be the Magpies manager’s ideal capture but that an eye-watering permanent deal to get his services would have to be sanctioned due to Benitez already using up all his domestic loans.
The Chronicle report that aside from Loftus-Cheek being his ideal target, Benitez wants to see a forward, competition for Ayoze Perez and a left-back arrive as a minimum in the winter window.
OPINION
It seems Benitez’s three transfer priorities for the Magpies would address key issues with the current squad. However it’s worth noting that the club are in dire need of a right-back as there isn’t sufficient cover for first-choice DeAndre Yedlin as it stands. Yet seeing as the report does also go on to state that the manager has put getting a forward on the top of his wishlist, it does mean Benitez has his priorities right. The Magpies have failed to register a win so far this season and a reason for that has been due to their failure to score goals. A clinical finisher needs to arrive at St James Park in January for the club to have any chance of having a successful season, as the wins won’t come flooding in unless someone is able to start regularly scoring. While the best of Salomon Rondon clearly hasn’t been seen yet at the club yet as he has had an injury, he could still do with a lethal strike partner to help him rack up the goals. As for Benitez’s wish for Loftus-Cheek given that Chelsea no doubt highly rate the player, even if they barely use him, he would definitely cost too much for the Magpies to even consider.
