Why Newcastle United must make a January swoop for Nelson Oliveira
Norwich City centre-forward Nelson Oliveira hasn’t kicked a ball this season, with Eastern Daily Press claiming the player has fallen out with manager Daniel Farke. Now, Norwich City sporting director Stuart Webber admits the club are open to offers for Nelson Oliveira in January.
The 27-year-old has not featured for the Canaries since the final day of the previous campaign. The Portuguese is under contract at Carrow Road until 2020 after signing a four-year deal from Benfica in 2016.
Now with the player completely frozen out of the first-team picture by manager Daniel Farke, Nelson Oliveira should leave Norwich City in the January transfer window to reignite his career elsewhere. Keeping Oliveira’s situation at Carrow Road in mind, Newcastle United must make a move for him in January.
Newcastle United are beginning to show signs of life under Rafael Benitez after a miserable start to the new season. After a tenth-place finish last term, Benitez deserved to get a solid financial backing from the board this time around.
But that hasn’t happened and a lack of investment in the summer has resulted in a very ordinary start for the Magpies, thus putting them in danger of getting relegated from the Premier League.
But with two back-to-back wins against Watford and Bournemouth, Benitez would hope those results act as a springboard in the upcoming run of fixtures in the league. Truth be told, however, Newcastle lack quality in their squad and unless Benitez reinforces it in January, staying in the Premier League would be very tough.
To put things into perspective, the Magpies need more depth in their attacking options to achieve a better goalscoring record.
Yoshinori Muto has shown glimpses of his talent but the Japanese hasn’t made the impact that Benitez would have expected. Salomon Rondon struck twice in the victory over Bournemouth but barring that, he has spent most of the time out injured this season, while Joselu and Ayoze Perez’s failure to find the net on a consistent basis this season has rendered Newcastle short of options up front.
In that case, Nelson Oliveira could be a smart acquisition for Newcastle. The Portuguese is a clinical goalscorer on his day and will be hungry for game time as he hasn’t played a single minute so far this season. He possesses a real physical presence, can hold up the ball well and has a decent turn of pace as well.
A technically-gifted player, Oliveira has all the attributes for an archetypal Benitez centre-forward. He is a good dribbler of the ball and has the ability to set his teammates into free spaces with incisive through balls. Moreover, the former Benfica man would certainly add depth to that position at Tyneside.
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Hence, signing Oliveira would be wise as that could bolster Newcastle’s hopes of staying in the Premier League.