da winzada777： Newcastle United have only made one signing this summer after turning Martin Dubravka’s successful loan spell into a permanent move, but manager Rafa Benitez certainly won’t be finished there as he looks to strengthen his squad even further.
da dobrowin： The Spaniard, who has been urged to sign a £36m-rated Belgium international by Toon fans, will be desperate to add some more quality and experience to his squad to help them improve upon the impressive 10th-place finish they secured in their first season back in the Premier League, and he will want owner Mike Ashley to back him financially.
One of the priorities for the 58-year-old is likely to be in attack, with Aleksandar Mitrovic looking likely to go following a positive spell with Fulham in the second-half of the 2017/18 campaign, Joselu struggling in his debut campaign at St James’ Park, and doubts as to whether Dwight Gayle has the ability to be a consistent goalscorer at this level.
A player that may well have caught Benitez’s eye at the 2018 World Cup is Rubin Kazan’s Sardar Azmoun, rated at £8.1m by Transfermarkt, who once again shone for Iran in their 1-1 draw with Euro 2016 winners Portugal on Monday as they narrowly missed out on reaching the knockout stages.
While the 23-year-old centre-forward failed to register a shot at goal as his nation largely struggled to create and get the ball to him regularly throughout the 90 minutes, he still made a big impact by winning six aerial duels against the likes of Jose Fonte and Pepe, as well as successfully completing two dribbles and making two key passes.
Azmoun, who has 23 goals in 36 caps for his country, doesn’t mind helping out defensively either – something that will impress Benitez and is key to the way Newcastle play – and his one tackle and one interception against Portugal prove that he could be an affordable answer to the Tyneside outfit’s striker issues.
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