OPINION
Newcastle United must turn to a familiar face to solve their lack of depth regarding the position of right-back by signing Leicester City defender Danny Simpson in January.
The 31-year-old is frozen out at the King Power Stadium after not making a single league appearance for them all season.
Instead Simpson has featured once in the EFL trophy and twice in the Premier League Two in order to keep fighting fit.
The right-back, who won the Premier League with the Foxes, was previously reported by Sky Sports ahead of the summer transfer window closing as not being a part of his manager’s plans and that he was facing exit.
However he ended up staying put and it seems like there is no hope of him featuring for the first-team in the near future given that The Sun reported that with Simpson out of the picture, the Foxes would swoop for Liverpool right-back Nathaniel Clyne in January.
Magpies boss Rafa Benitez clearly has an issue regarding the position of right-back, especially if DeAndre Yedlin gets injured, as his options after the American are either drastically in experienced or previously have proven to be unreliable.
The Spanish manager actually made it a priority to sign a new right-sided full-back in the summer, as reported by the Chronicle, but no player arrived to address that issue with the Magpies’ team.
Yet given that the Foxes are no doubt keen to get Simpson off their books as they’re not using him then the Magpies’ tight budget could allow them to rescue him and aid their cause.
The experienced Premier League defender is a familiar face at St James Park as he previously played for the Magpies and featured 138 times for them.
While some may perceive signing Simpson as a backwards step, the right-back is capable and more importantly a proven Premier League right-back who could easily do a job for the Magpies without breaking their budget.
Therefore it makes sense that Benitez’s side must reunite themselves with the 31-year-old in January by signing the frozen-out Leicester City player.
