This season has been a particularly strong looking Championship EFL year, with Newcastle having arguably the best player to play at this level in Ex-Liverpool star Jonjo Shelvey and without doubt the best manager to ever be involved in the competition, Rafa Benitez.
Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle both have a solid stay in the Premier League which underlines their quality too and and the Magpies cannot shake off Brighton and have not completely seen off the Huddersfield yet either. It’s a good year, which also implies that many a good players is playing in the division who could be snapped up the summer.
Of course, it’s a well-known fact that a club can’t simply go around buying players just because they have the money. Newcastle hijacked of Tom Cairney is obvious and has been written about before. Any new acquisition at the St. James Park will need to fit into their team and be used to replace a current player or simply to improve upon them. With that in mind, the Toon could raid Yorkshire for the following two players this summer:
Charlie Taylor
Taylor is a player we’ve written about earlier this year. He is productive on the other side of the field. Currently part of his side defensive unit, Taylor has also been impressive going forward from left-back registering 4 assists to his name and would be an improvement on Paul Dummett in advanced areas of the field.
Tom Smith
Here is another player Rafa must consider bring to the EPL with him at the end of the season. Assuming Smith quite amazing stat of having supplied NINE assists from right-back this season isn’t at fluke – no one would believe it is – then he needs to be hijacked up and taken to the Premier League immediately.
He can definitely defende as he’s been part of a solid, successful and reliable defensive unit at Huddersfield this season but given the increasing need in the Premier League for attacking full-backs, the Magpies not signing Smith or someone like him will them behind the game. Vurnon Anita, although capable and admirable consistent these days, is not the long-term answer in that position for Newcastle and so with DeAndre Yedlin away for most of the summer at the CONCACAF God Cup in the USA Newcastle really do need to think about his position.
Regardless of how well Yedlin copes with his return to the Premier League, having him in the squad alone will not be enough and the Toon need to think of the next few years. As much as it would be great to see Jamie Sterry given a chance to impress it’s clear that Smith, not much older than Sterry, is at a higher level right now and ready to do the business. If Huddersfield fail in their promotion bid, Rafa Benitez should step in.