After another disappointing cup result, this time in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, Newcastle manager, Eddie Howe, and owners the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), will know that they’ll have to dip into the transfer market in January if they want to retain an interest in the other competitions.
The Magpies, as brilliant as they have been going forward, have yet to win a trophy under the new management team, and that’s clearly something that needs to change sooner rather than later.
To that end, the club are being linked with a lightning fast attacker rated at around the €60m/£51m mark by transfer guru and CaughtOffside columnist, Fabrizio Romano, and who was once being looked at by Spurs.
“Jonathan David is a player they’ve (Tottenham) been tracking for a long time, but it’s a complicated one because of the price,” Romano said to Give Me Sport back in August.
“I’m hearing that Lille want something around €60m. They started from €65m but that now could be around €60m to sell Jonathan David, but also, they would need a replacement. So, in this case, timing is crucial, and it’s not going to be an easy one.”
The Lille attacker is now being looked at by Newcastle according to Italian football journalist, Marco Conterio.
? EXCL – Tegola per il #Milan nella corsa a Jonathan David.
?? Il #Newcastle si sarebbe inserito nella corsa all'attaccante canadese e avrebbe fatto un sondaggio per il canadese del #Lille
? #NUFC #LOSC pic.twitter.com/2w5XIuEbm3
— Marco Conterio (@marcoconterio) December 19, 2023
As long as the St. James’ Park outfit remain within Financial Fair Play guidelines, then the reported £51m asking price isn’t beyond their capabilities.
David is known to be rapid and would certainly add something to the Newcastle front line in that regard.
Howe needs to be absolutely sure before making the final decision, however, because there’s little room for manoeuvre if the club get this one wrong.