Newcastle United are now targeting Brighton winger Leandro Trossard, according to The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones.
The lowdown
The Belgium international, who joined Brighton from Genk in the summer of 2019 for £15m, is five games short of a century of appearances in the Premier League.
In his 95 top-flight outings to date, he has scored 15 goals and provide nine assists. He is a regular for Graham Potter’s side, starting 27 of their 31 Premier League matches so far in 2021/22.
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Valued at £15.3m by Transfermarkt, the 27-year-old is out of contract in just over 14 months’ time.
The latest
Jones wrote in The Daily Mail that Newcastle are expected to sell Allan Saint-Maximin this summer and reinvest the funds in a replacement winger.
Trossard is one of the players they have identified as a potential successor to the Frenchman, with extensive scouting reports currently being compiled.
Encouragingly for Newcastle, the Belgian is apparently keen to leave the Amex Stadium come the end of the season.
The verdict
Trossard would be a good successor to Saint-Maximin at Newcastle.
His tally of five goals this season may not be spectacular, but it’s worth stressing that Brighton are a low-scoring team. Indeed, only Burnley and Norwich City have netted fewer goals the Seagulls in the Premier League this term.
Furthermore, it matches the tally of Saint-Maximin at St James’ Park.
Newcastle know first-hand how good the 27-year-old can be after his man-of-the-match display in the 1-1 draw between the two teams at the Amex Stadium in November.
In addition to converting a penalty (which he won himself), Trossard created three chances, completed four out of five long passes and drew four fouls, earning him a SofaScore rating of 8.2/10.
He’s also won praise from Newcastle great Alan Shearer, who said that the ‘magnificent’ Albion winger boasts an ‘excellent’ all-round game.
If he’s good enough for Shearer, that’s a fairly strong endorsement in our book.
In other news, Newcastle are also looking at a move for this former Liverpool gem
