Why Newcastle United must go all out to sign Garry Rodrigues in January
Newcastle United were interested in signing Galatasaray winger Garry Rodrigues during the summer transfer window, reports Chronicle Live. In fact, Newcastle had a £6million bid turned down for Rodrigues at the start of the year and the move never materialized.
Rodrigues, 27, who is currently on a deal with Galatasaray until June 2021, has already scored three goals in all competitions this season. In addition, he registered a tally of 10 goals and 11 assists in the last term. Given the Cape Verde winger’s fine start to the new campaign, should Newcastle reignite interest in the player in January?
Certainly, Newcastle could do a lot worse than Garry Rodrigues. The Magpies have made an awful start to the season and are without a win with only two points on the board from eight games. Newcastle had a fantastic chance to win their first Premier League game of the season against Manchester United last weekend but Rafael Benitez’s men squandered a two-goal lead to lose the game 3-2 at Old Trafford.
The Magpies currently lie in the relegation zone and one simply cannot blame Benitez for the dismal start to the season. Benitez was not fully backed by Mike Ashley in the summer transfer window and although Newcastle did make some signings, the club couldn’t acquire many quality attackers.
Kenedy and Salomon Rondon arrived from Chelsea and West Brom on loan respectively, along with Yoshinori Muto from Mainz. The trio were the only attacking players Benitez managed to sign then. However, if Newcastle are to beat the drop this season, the board must back the manager financially in January.
Newcastle are in desperate need of some fresh spark in the attacking department and Garry Rodrigues could be the player to provide that. Primarily a left-winger by trade, Rodrigues is also adept at playing on the right, as a no.10 and also as a secondary striker.
A fast and skilful winger, the 27-year-old is renowned for his dribbling abilities. Rodrigues’ raw pace and direct running with the ball is terrifying to come up against, especially on the counter-attack. He can pick out a pass to provide the strikers with goalscoring chances is also defensively diligent, which should be enticing for Benitez.
Read more: Why Newcastle could reap rich rewards by signing this midfield all-rounder from Chelsea this January
So far this season, Benitez’s men have been blunt in the attack. Their performances in the final third have lacked quality and the cutting edge required to split defences apart. Therefore, the Magpies must break their bank for Rodrigues in January as they could mightily benefit from the Cape Verdean’s attacking attributes.