OPINION
It is no secret that Newcastle United have lacked inspiration in the attacking third this season, and it’s clearly an area of the pitch that manger Rafael Benitez should be looking to strengthen this month.
A player that the Magpies chief should be looking at, then, is Birmingham City’s Che Adams, who has been in phenomenal form this campaign.
The 22-year-old is a livewire of an attacker who would be perfectly suited to playing in the position just off centre forward Salomon Rondon.
Ayoze Perez nominally takes up that role for Benitez’s side, but he hasn’t done enough with it this term. Bringing someone like Adams in to compete with, and eventually depose, Perez is a must for Newcastle.
The Blues frontman has been lighting up the Championship in recent years and has four assists to go with his 12 goals this campaign. For a young man to be impressing in this way at this stage of his career is remarkable, and the Magpies should be looking to poach him before someone else does.
Rondon, for all his talent, isn’t a prolific scorer. He does tremendous work for the team and keeps defenders occupied. He needs someone more deadly than Perez to play off him and benefit from his good work.
Adams could be that man, and at 22 years of age he’s only going to get better. He is used to being the main man for a big Championship team like Birmingham, and that mentality will translate perfectly to life at Newcastle.
We’ve seen in recent years that Championship players are perhaps more capable of making the step up to the Premier League more successfully than they have in the past.
James Maddison and David Brooks are the two headline acts this term who have proved that second tier players can flourish in the top flight, and Adams could be the next one to do so.
There’s no doubt that the youngster has the ability to get the St James’ Park crowd off their feet. He is an exciting player with devastating end product – exactly what Newcastle need.
