Newcastle United are “100 per cent” in the hunt to sign Amiens right-back Emil Krafth, according to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol.
While appearing on Sky Sports News on Tuesday [07:38pm], Solhekol was contacted by a source close to the 24-year-old Sweden international, claiming that the Magpies definitely hold an interest in signing him before the end of the summer transfer window.
“Someone close to Emil Krafth has just got in touch with me, he must be watching this evening. He tells me ‘100 per cent Newcastle want to sign Emil Krafth’,” Solhekol said.
Krafth joined Amiens on a permanent deal this summer after a successful spell on loan at the Ligue 1 club from Bologna last season.
OPINION
It would be a shock if Newcastle did not look to improve their full-back options before the start of next season. DeAndre Yedlin and Javier Manquillo are the Magpies’ only right-backs at the moment but they are widely seen as being nowhere near good enough for a Premier League team. Krafth had a good campaign with Amiens last term, scoring one goal and supplying one assist in 36 appearances across all competitions for the French side. He has 20 caps for Sweden and according to stats by WhoScored, averaged 1.6 tackles, 2.3 clearances, 0.4 crosses and 0.5 key passes per league match last season with Amiens. He doesn’t seem like he would be a massive upgrade on what Newcastle have but the club clearly feel as though he will be and they will more than likely be better placed to make that judgement. However this is Newcastle, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see them going after him just because he’s cheap.
