Newcastle United could make a move for Eintracht Frankfurt left back Jetro Willems this summer, according to journalist Chris Waugh.
The Newcastle correspondent made the claim on The Chronicle’s news and transfer centre [21/05; 16:36], stating that if the price is right the Magpies could well go in for the 22-cap Netherlands international.
Waugh asserted that Willems is a player that Newcastle have monitored over the past few years, but that nothing will be finalised in terms of transfers until manager Rafael Benitez’s future is sorted out.
The Spaniard is thought to want to target the full back areas if he decides to stay on at St James’ Park. Willems recently told VTBL that the Magpies are in the hunt for him.
OPINION
This is an interesting one. The full back areas certainly need upgrading, whoever is in charge at Newcastle next season. Javier Manquillo came on leaps and bounds down the stretch this season, but DeAndre Yedlin was rather poor for much of last season at right wing back. So that will need to be sorted out, but things are a bit better on the opposite side of the defence. Matt Ritchie made a seamless transition to left wing back, but it’s unclear whether Benitez sees his future at that position. There’s always Mr. Reliable Paul Dummett, of course, but that’s still not a massively inspiring duo. If Ritchie returns to the midfield corps next campaign then a new left back would certainly have to be brought in. Willems would be as good a choice as any. He’s coming off an excellent season with Frankfurt and, at just 25-years-old, he’s still young enough to improve moving forward. Let’s wait and see what happens with one.
