Danny Mills has suggested that nobody in Newcastle United’s squad is irreplaceable, as well as claiming that the Magpies need “three or four” signings this summer.
The Magpies head into the summer without a manager after it was announced that Rafa Benitez will be leaving the club, but Sky Sports pundit Mills doesn’t seem too concerned about a potential exodus of the playing staff.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “I don’t think there is a brilliant player at Newcastle who lots of top clubs will want. There’s no-one in that squad who makes you say, ‘wow, he’s irreplaceable’. Who are the stars in that team?
“You have a nucleus of a decent squad and it needs three or four quality signings this summer. There no-one who can’t be replaced.”
OPINION
You can see Mills’ point on this one, but he is a little wide of the mark to suggest that Newcastle could afford too lose anyone. Irreplaceable is such a strong word, and there’s probably an argument that there are only a handful of players in world football who are truly indispensable for their sides. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t players in this Newcastle side who are very, very important. Take Ayoze Perez as an example. The Spaniard flourished under Rafa Benitez last year, hitting 13 goals in all competitions, and his average of 1.5 shots per game and 1.2 key passes per match [Whoscored] show just how significant for the Magpies in the final third. That doesn’t make him irreplaceable by any stretch, but it certainly makes him a very important part of the Toon Army’s line up, and one they would have a hard time finding a suitable alternative too at a recent price.
