Newcastle eyeing £50m Guimaraes partner who's like Bellingham

Newcastle eyeing £50m Guimaraes partner who’s like Bellingham

England’s current production of number 10s is nothing short of incredible. Newcastle United don’t currently boast one of them but they could sign a player with similarities to the best of the bunch.

Jude Bellingham, who is arguably the world’s best player at the moment, has 20 goals and ten assists in 34 games for Real Madrid, with Los Blancos still fighting on all fronts to win La Liga and the Champions League.

Aside from Bellingham, Phil Foden is another player having a superb season. He is putting up better numbers than his international teammate, currently on 32 goal involvements for Manchester City this season. To be more specific, that is 22 goals and ten assists, in 45 games.

Bellingham and Foden are the two players most likely to occupy England’s number 10 spot in Euro 2024 this summer, although there are other players on the fringe, especially James Maddison, who has a tough fight to start this summer ahead of perhaps the best two players in world football.

However, there might be one more attacking midfielder who is making a case for a spot in the squad, as well as attracting plenty of transfer interest from clubs in the Premier League ahead of this summer.

Newcastle interested in Premier League star

Newcastle are said to be strongly considering making a move for Nottingham Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. According to The Mirror, via Football365, the Magpies would have to pay a fee of around £50m to sign Gibbs-White, who has been Forest’s best player this season, as they look to survive in the Premier League.

It would be a deal that represents profit for Forest, who brought Gibbs-White to the City Ground from Wolves for an initial £25m in 2023. However, there was potential for the deal to rise to £42.5m depending on appearance and performance-related add-ons.

Newcastle are not the only side said to be touting the services of Gibbs-White. The attacking midfielder is said to be of interest to Tottenham Hotspur this summer, and the two sides could well fight it out for his signature.

How Gibbs-White improves Newcastle

24-year-old Gibbs-White has scored five goals and has registered seven assists for Forest this season, in 32 Premier League games so far. Only Anthony Elanga and Chris Wood have more combined goal involvements for Forest in the league, with 13 each.

Gibbs-White was described by Raj Chohan on X as the “Aldi Jude Bellingham” due to his ability to “take the ball nicely on the half-turn and drive through the middle of the park”. However, not only is he a wonderful ball-carrier, Gibbs-White is a creative machine.

In the Premier League this season, the English talent averages 3.16 passes into the final third and 0.53 through balls per 90 minutes, as per Fbref. This ranks him in the top 15% of midfielders in the competition for both metrics.

In comparison to Newcastle’s squad, Gibbs-White has the third-most assists with seven and the second-most key passes per 90 minutes, with 1.7, according to WhoScored. Kieran Trippier is the only player who ranks ahead of him in both metrics.

It certainly feels like Newcastle are missing a genuine number 10 from their squad. Whilst they have played the likes of Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimarães in that area, there are times when they are better playing elsewhere to get the most out of them. Signing Gibbs-White could solve those issues.

The addition of the former Wolves star could allow Guimarães to play a deeper role and orchestrate play from further back on the pitch. This season, he averages 5.06 long passes completed in the Premier League, as per Fbref, which ranks him in the top 10% among midfielders. With Gibbs-White in the side, he could sit deep and dictate play for the Magpies, whilst also being able to carry the ball forward if the situation allowed.

Bringing in Gibbs-White would certainly be a signing that would get the best out of Guimarães as well as make Newcastle a more well-rounded team. It certainly feels like the Nottingham Forest man is ready to make the next step to a side pushing for higher honours, and he could be the man who helps take them to the next level as a side.

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