Newcastle United transfer news: Reports of Newcastle United’s interest in Stade Reims midfielder Patrick Zabi emerged on transfer deadline day.
Deadline day at Newcastle United was a very quiet affair. The Magpies didn’t sign a single first-team player during the winter window and will head into February with the same resources at Eddie Howe’s disposal as he had when they entered the window over a month ago.
Other than speculation over a potential recall of Matt Targett and very brief talk of a potential exit for Sandro Tonali, Newcastle United’s deadline day had little fanfare. During the final day of the transfer window, though, there was a new name that cropped up as a potential transfer target. Patrick Zabi.
Zabi was a relative unknown heading into deadline day, but reports of a potential move to St James’ Park had supporters intrigued. Zabi, a 19-year-old midfielder, currently plays for Ligue 2 side Stade Reims and has made 21 appearances in all competitions for his club this season, enjoying a real breakthrough campaign.
Reports from French outlet So Foot initially detailed Newcastle United’s interest in Zabi, hinting that it could cost the Magpies north of €35m to sign the midfielder. No move was made on deadline day but, as those reports stated, Zabi was never intended to arrive on Tyneside as a first-team ready player and instead would likely have spent the remainder of the campaign in France before joining Newcastle in the summer had a move been completed.
Newcastle United remain interested in Zabu, according tothe Mail, and it is a deal that they can still work on despite the transfer window being closed in both England and France.
Patrick Zabi transfer would tick Newcastle United transfer box
Speaking to the media about his side’s quiet transfer window, Eddie Howe admitted on Tuesday that financial restrictions continue to impact what the club can do in the transfer market and that they have to always consider the ‘long-term implications’ of every transfer they complete: “Yes [it’s a risk],” Howe said when asked about not signing anyone in January.
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“We were left with no other option really. Every decision we make has a long-term implication.
“So there's no guarantees that even signing someone with the funds that we had available would help us short-term anyway. So it is what it is.
“We've been used to sort of working in these conditions now for a while. I think we've only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five. So I think we're under financial restrictions.
“We have to be really, really smart. And we've decided to wait until the summer.”
Signing someone like Zabi, who doesn’t turn 20 until after the current season has been completed, would certainly be a transfer which has ‘long-term’ vision in mind.
However, as always with signing players from abroad, it comes with it a risk that they will not be able to adapt to English football. That view, though, has not always ensured a smooth transfer process and the Magpies must come up with a policy for not just this summer but also the next few windows, that allows them to both strengthen Howe’s first-team options and depth, whilst also maximising every penny in the market - else they risk losing ground on their Premier League rivals.
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