According to The Mirror, Newcastle United are in the race to sign West Ham United star Mohammed Kudus, but will face competition from Arsenal and Liverpool.
Newcastle supporters will be in a better mood heading into this week after a confident and thrilling performance in the 4-0 win over Leicester City this weekend at St James’ Park.
However, the Magpies must build on this confidence moving forward as they are still 12th in the Premier League table, and with a Carabao Cup quarter-final clash against Brentford coming up, they need to find some desperately needed consistency.
It has been a rollercoaster ride on Tyneside already, especially after a frustrating summer transfer window, but the January transfer window presents a golden opportunity to turn around their misfortunes, stabilise the squad and bring in some new additions that can make an important difference.
Sporting director Paul Mitchell will have the challenge of not only identifying the right profile of player to improve Newcastle’s season, but also dealing with potential competition for players that make it onto their wishlist.
The Mirror reported over the weekend that Newcastle have been tracking the progress of West Ham talent Mohammed Kudus for many months now, and are ready to test the waters to see if they can convince the East London club to part ways with their player in the new year.
The publication claims that the Hammers want nothing short of a £90m transfer fee for Kudus, and this will not be the only stumbling block that Newcastle face in their efforts to get him to the toon.
Premier League title challengers Liverpool and Arsenal have also expressed an interest in acquiring the services of the Ghanaian attacker as they endeavour to improve their squads in their bid for silverware over the second half of the season.
Should Newcastle make a bid for Mohammed Kudus?
There is no doubt that Kudus is one of the most promising young talents in the Premier League, however, the price tag slapped on him by West Ham could present a real issue for Newcastle in their ambitions to sign him.
It is no secret that the Geordies will need to offload some of their fringe players in order to do business in the new year, something Eddie Howe referenced in his pre-match press conference only last week.
However, if the club is serious about achieving their ambitions of qualifying for European football for next season there is a lot of work to be done in the coming months, and bringing in a fresh perspective with good experience of the Premier League would be the cheat code in fulfilling their dreams.
Over 10 Premier League appearances, the Hammers star – once hailed as a “top talent” by teammate Aaron Cresswell – has scored two goals, registered one assist and created two big chances, as well as averaging one key pass, 3.3 shots on goal and has won 7.1 duels per game, demonstrating his strong effort in the final third.
Kudus is also a multi-faceted player with the ability to play on the right wing and in an attacking midfield role, which makes him the perfect signing for Howe’s Newcastle team, as he can be relied upon to operate in numerous attacking positions, as well as being a direct and reliable threat to opponents.
A right winger has been on the wishlist of both the club and supporters alike, so if the club could find a way to make this acquisition possible it would definitely put them in a great position to compete, giving Alexander Isak a partner with similar energy and determination.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see how the interest in Kudus unfolds over the coming weeks and whether Newcastle will be brave enough in the transfer window to save their season from disappointment.