Newcastle United are interested in bringing Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury to the club this summer. The 23-year-old has come through the ranks at the Foxes and made over 70 appearances for the club in all competitions.
Daily Mail have reported that Magpies manager Steve Bruce is keen on bringing Choudhury on loan to the club. But the report has also stated that Newcastle will only make a move for him if they sell a few players. The likes of Fabian Schar, Ciaran Clark, Jeff Hendrick and Sean Longstaff are up for sale.
Hamza Choudhury has just two years remaining on his current contract at Leicester City. He has scored twice and assisted twice in 72 appearances for the club.
Hamza Choudhury to Newcastle: What will he add to the team?
Hamza Choudhury has featured off the bench for Leicester City over the last two seasons, and has acted as a backup midfield option for manager Brendan Rodgers. The 23-year-old is capable of playing both as a defensive midfielder and central midfielder, and is best suited to play in a defensive role for his side.
Choudhury is a combative player who likes to make quick interceptions and tackles to win back the ball for his team. He is a physical player who uses his strength and aggression to push the opposition attacker off the ball and is a livewire on the pitch. The Leicester midfielder doesn’t contribute a lot in the attacking phase for his team and primarily makes short passes to move the ball to more creative players in his side.
He is effective in pressing the opposition when they have the ball and has a good work-rate to go up and down the pitch.
But it is surprising to see Newcastle United’s interest in Choudhury when they have plenty of options in midfield, many of whom could be said to be on a higher level currently than the Leicester man.
Manager Steve Bruce has the likes of Isaac Hayden, Jonjo Shelvey, Sean Longstaff and Jeff Hendrick as options in midfield, as well as new signing Joe Willock. Hayden is a decent option as a defensive midfielder, while the likes of Shelvey and Longstaff can be useful in midfield. Willock was exceptional last season and will once again add energy and goals from midfield.
The addition of Choudhury also does not make sense tactically. The Magpies play a five-man defence and also play a hard-tackling, strong defensive midfielder in Hayden. Using another defensive midfielder in the team may make them too defensive, which may not go down well with the fans, who already have severe reservations regarding the current style of play at the club.
Newcastle United should target a midfielder of higher quality and a ball-playing midfielder to perhaps replace Shelvey in the side rather than signing a defensive midfielder like Hamza Choudhury.
