OPINION
Newcastle United must reignite their reported January pursuit of Leeds United forward Kemar Roofe as they may end up having an advantage that helps them get a deal done in the summer.
The Daily Mirror reported in January that Rafa Benitez was considering a move for the 25-year-old in January if given the funds as a good offer may have tempted Leeds into selling their attacker.
The newspaper pointed out that due to Leeds knowing Roofe’s goals could fire them to the Premier League, there was a doubt whether they’d part company with him at that time.
However the Mirror’s report made clear that Benitez was confident Roofe have the ability to add the firepower he wanted to his Premier League side.
Benitez is still in need of boosting the Magpies’ attack in the summer, if he is still in charge, and Roofe still looks like the correct option to pursue.
The 25-year-old may have been on the sidelines as of late due to injury but when you consider he has scored 14 goals in his 27 outings this season and is an age which suggests there’s more to come, he ticks some promising boxes.
Aside from Roofe being the right man on paper for the Magpies, the fact Newcastle United could have an advantage in the summer when it comes to getting him, must see them attempt to get him.
Leeds’ lost their clash to automatic promotion rivals Sheffield United ahead of the international break and now sit third in the table.
While the Whites have enough games to get back into the automatic promotion, there’s a chance that they will end up staying where they are and finishing third.
This will see promotion rest on them winning the play-offs and given that they’re a glorified lottery, this means that Marcelo Bielsa’s side could end up staying in England’s second-tier.
That situation surely gives the Magpies an advantage when trying to lure Roofe away from Elland Road as they’d be able to promise Premier League football unlike Leeds.
The Whites didn’t have Premier League football to offer in January but the 25-year-old would no doubt have known it’s worth staying put to see if they got up this season, but he may be less keen on doing a whole another season in the Championship when he has a potential Premier League suitor.
Given this it makes a lot of sense that the Magpies pursue Roofe once again in the summer as they could hold the cards if Leeds suffer disappointment in their bid to reach the promise land.
