Newcastle United are on course to avoid relegation to the Championship as Eddie Howe has guided the club out of the bottom three since taking over from Steve Bruce.
The ex-Bournemouth boss has taken the Magpies nine points clear of the relegation zone and was helped by PIF providing him with a host of new signings in January, with the likes of Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier, Matt Targett, Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes coming in.
PIF may now look to dip into the transfer market yet again in the summer in an attempt to take the Toon to the next level in the 2022/23 campaign.
Axe him
One position in which the club may look to improve upon is in central midfield.
Bruno Guimaraes arrived in January to bolster that area of the pitch but he only makes up a third of the players in the 4-3-3 set-up, with Sean Longstaff, Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Willock and Joelinton also among the options available to Eddie Howe at present.
The Magpies have been linked with a swoop for Juventus gem Adrien Rabiot, who is said to be available for up to £12.5m (€15m), and this would allow Howe to axe Willock from the starting XI. Since arriving on a permanent deal from Arsenal last summer, he has been unable to find his best form and has often been a liability in the middle of the park.
In 21 Premier League starts, the Englishman has scored two goals – missing three ‘big chances’ – and failed to register an assist whilst creating 0.7 chances per game. He has also been dribbled past 1.5 times and only made 0.8 interceptions per match – averaging an underwhelming SofaScore rating of 6.73 and completing 81% of his passes.
Last season, Rabiot produced four goals and two assists in 34 Serie A outings for Juventus. He completed 91% of his attempted passes and made 1.3 interceptions, along with 2.1 tackles, per game. The Frenchman also won an impressive 59% of his duels, showing that he is strong in one-on-one battles, whilst averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.08.
Bianconeri legend Gianluigi Buffon previously heaped praise on the midfielder, saying: “He is a fantastic mix, he has the physical strength of Pogba, who is like a wardrobe, has the personality of Vidal and potentially the dynamism of Marchisio. He is incredible, extremely strong.”
He has also proven himself in Ligue 1 for PSG. In his final season in France, Rabiot averaged an exceptional SofaScore rating of 7.28 as he made 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game whilst winning 62% of his duels and was only dribbled past 0.2 times per match.
His statistics in Italy and France suggest that he would be a big upgrade on Willock in terms of his consistency, his defensive quality and his ability on the ball. That is why Howe must push for the club to sign the Juventus man in order to axe the current dud next season.
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