Newcastle United’s Head of Recruitment, Steve Nickson, has a huge job on his hands this month to sign the right players to help the Magpies avoid relegation.
Their Saudi owners have more money than sense and most football fans I’ve spoken to this season would like to see Newcastle go down. I have no problem admitting that I am one of them.
The Telegraph have ran a piece outlining what Newcastle need to do in the January transfer window to stay in the Premier League. It is suggested that a shortlist was finalised in December and the club are now working through it with first, second and third choices for each position.
However, the only part that really interests us is a mere mention of Donny van de Beek, who continues to sit on the bench every week, supposedly reminiscing about his times playing regular football for Ajax.
Luke Edwards wrote: “Newcastle are also likely to test Manchester United’s desire to continue to confine Donny van de Beek to the substitute’s bench, even though Ralf Rangnick has indicated he wants the Holland international to stay. Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara is another long-standing favourite of Nickson’s.”
When asked what Van de Beek had to do in order to play, Rangnick told reporters, as per the Manchester Evening News: “Well, just work hard. So far, as I have got to know him he’s got a top mentality, he works hard in every training session, is a team player through and through and there will be games where he gets his chance to play.
“I also had a long conversation with him last week about that and, again, of course, it’s difficult for him right now because he also wants to play for the Dutch national team to qualify for himself and play in the World Cup in Qatar and, in order to do that, he needs that game-time here.
“But I still believe we should keep him, he should stay here definitely until the end of this season and try to get as much game-time as he possibly can.”
