Newcastle United 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur - Jordan Cronin reacts
Eddie Howe could look to strengthen from a Champions League rival in January
It’s been a rollercoaster season at St James’ Park to match the up-and-down summer transfer window, leaving more questions than answers around Eddie Howe’s Newcastle project.
From Alexander Isak’s betrayal to Nick Woltemade establishing himself as the new hero on Tyneside, The Magpies’ League Cup defence staying alive until the quarter-finals amid a flat Champions League defeat to Barcelona, and the insane 3-2 loss to Liverpool, the last few months have more than put Newcastle fans through the wringer.
Yet for all the chaos, right now they’re just a mid-table Premier League side. Through nine matchweeks Newcastle were yet to beat a side currently above them in the table and haven’t lost to any sides below them by at least a clear point, boasting the seventh best defence in the division and an attack that’s only better than three other teams.
However, while those numbers suggest Howe needs to focus on his forward line, they belie a rapidly approaching problem. 60% of Newcastle’s main centre-backs are aged over 30 and while Malick Thiaw was a good pickup, The Magpies can’t stop recruiting there especially given they’re protecting a 33-year-old Nick Pope.
And Club Brugge star Joel Ordonez could be just the man to freshen up the heart of Howe’s defence as Premier League clubs up and down the land prepare to battle for the Ecuadorian.
Ordonez can replicate Coloccini impact on Tyneside
A South American centre-back who possesses an all-court game but excels in the air and in the tackle, Ordonez is only one funky haircut away from truly resembling Fabricio Coloccini on Tyneside. The Club Brugge defender’s aerial success rate of 80% puts him in the top fifth of centre-backs in this season’s Champions League, and no player in his position has averaged more tackles won per game at 2.45.
Aged 21, Ordonez still has plenty of room to develop having already racked up over a thousand minutes in football’s best club competition and he certainly has more physicality than his 6’2” frame suggests.
If he can transfer his 0.7 aerials won per game across the English Channel, Ordonez would be in the top 3% of central defenders in the air across Europe’s top five leagues while his range of passing already eclipses what Coloccini had to offer, albeit in a different era at the back.
And Ordonez has also won 12 caps for Ecuador, no mean feat considering the riches La Tri currently enjoy in defence including Arsenal’s Piero Hincapie and Champions League winner William Pacho.
Howe must face transfer demons to battle for Ordonez
As target after target opted to go elsewhere in the summer transfer window, Howe admitted it had been a disappointing few months.
“We’ve had a frustrating time in terms of losing targets to other clubs.” he told The Mirror. “I’d be very open with that. That’s happened on several occasions. You just have to accept it. In order for a transfer to really work, in my opinion, the player has to be desperate to come to your club. If we don’t get that, the transfer doesn’t work.”
He added the loss of sporting director Paul Mitchell - who Newcastle have recently replaced with former Nottingham Forest and Rangers executive Ross Wilson - ruined his holiday as he was forced to take on more responsibility than he expected in the transfer market.
However, the best clubs solves problems before they arise and Newcastle learned painfully in the summer how difficult it can be when in the transfer market when everyone in football knows how desperate you are to fill a hole. With Dan Burn and Fabian Schar both aged 33, and Jamaal Lascelles on the verge of turning 32, more inaction in the transfer market at centre-back will only store up problems for Newcastle.
Signing a talented youngest like Ordonez now and allowing him to develop alongside such an experienced core could produce a player who can serve St James’ Park even better than Coloccini, and prevent The Magpies’ rivals from strengthening further at their expense.
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