Newcastle United’s latest hiccup hasn’t really dulled the atmosphere around the club as fans are increasingly hopeful of some new faces who can help the club to not only stay in the Premier League next season but also target a mid-table finish as they clearly have a group of young players and a very capable manager in Rafael Benitez.
They need five points to guarantee promotion and with three games left, they are well capable of doing that. If results go elsewhere, of course, then it might even be less than five points but the Magpies would be wise not to depend on that and get the job done themselves, something they haven’t been doing this month having lost too many games.
Rafa Benitez’s side have looked irresistible at times and have passed opposition teams to death at times, but for every good game, there have been those that simply make your tear your hair in anger. The team is a mixture of youth and experience but has simply failed to turn up in some games, which is baffling.
It’s safe to presume the team needs more quality and quantity as the squad is perhaps a tad short in terms of Premier League quality. The reliance on certain individuals is always a dangerous thing and Rafa is likely to iron out that issue in the summer if given the money to spend.
Round about this year, a lot of transfer stories start doing the rounds and it’s up to your conscience really to believe what is likely to materialise and what is not. Reports of late reveal that Swansea City attacking midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson could be on his way out this summer.
The Icelandic international has been in scintillating form this season and considering how bad the rest of the team is, it’s perhaps likely he’ll move to a club with bigger ambitions than just to stay in the Premier League.
Newcastle are expected to make the top flight (it would be some drop in form if they don’t from here) and even though the Magpies are categorically a promoted club, the history and the manager at the helm would make Tyneside as a prospective destination for Sigurdsson.
It’s still unclear what the target for next season will be, but c’mon, it can’t just be to survive relegation, can it? Judging by the form Newcastle were in during Rafa’s late, unsuccessful rescue attempt, they would have easily made mid-table had he been given 25 games more.
Newcastle will have to compete with Everton who are now armed with Farhad Moshiri’s resources and have been signing players for hefty price tags in recent transfer windows. They do have Ross Barkley in the position where Sigurdsson would like to play and perhaps that can help Newcastle as they can guarantee the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder a starting berth.
His creativity in the attacking third coupled with his goal-scoring output could take a massive burden off the strikers next season and if the club can sign him, he’d be one hell of an addition.
