OPINION
St James’ Park would roar if Newcastle United beat Barcelona in the reported race to sign Sassuolo midfielder Stefano Sensi.
According to the Northern Echo, the Magpies are considering whether to make a bid for the 23-year-old Italy international in the summer transfer window, but teams like Barca, Inter Milan and AC Milan are also in the chase.
Italian news outlet Calcio Mercato has reported that AC Milan are currently in pole position to sign the playmaker from Sassuolo, who would be willing to sell the ex-San Marino Calcio ace this summer for up to £21.2million.
Newcastle are likely to find themselves in need of one or two new central midfielders in the summer and Sensi would be a perfect replacement for someone like Jonjo Shelvey, who has been linked with West Ham this season.
Sensi is very good on the ball and likes to occupy a deep-lying playmaker role, much like Shelvey has done at times under Benitez’s leadership.
It would cost a lot of money to sign Sensi from Sassuolo but judging by the fact that he is playing so well for both Sassuolo and Italy – he scored his first international goal on Tuesday against Liechtenstein – and the fact that Barcelona are interested, it would be a very worthwhile investment for Mike Ashley.
Shelvey is likely to end up fetching Newcastle a similar fee to what Calcio Mercato claim Sensi is valued at, so a like-for-like transfer is definitely something that could be on the cards.
Whether Rafa Benitez is in charge of not, the Magpies need to sign the Italian in the summer.
The Toon Army will no doubt be absolutely thrilled with that business.
