Newcastle United have expressed an interest in signing attacker Robert Snodgrass from West Ham United, according to reports from Football.London.
The report also claims that the Magpies are one of the many clubs interested in the Scottish international, with fellow promotion winners Brighton & Hove Albion also watching him along with Championship clubs Leeds United and Norwich City also in the running.
Snodgrass was one of the best performers in the first half of the Premier League season last time around for Hull City, which saw him earn a £10.2 million move to West Ham United in the January transfer window (BBC Sport). However, things did not exactly pan out the way he or the Hammers would have envisaged.
The 29-year old finished the season with 9 goals and 6 assists from 39 games in all competitions, but only 2 assists came for the Hammers since his move in January from 15 matches, highlighting his ineffectiveness for the East London outfit. He failed to impress on West Ham’s pre-season tour to Austria as well, with several fans calling for his exit in the summer.
With the club bringing in Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City and reports (Goal Italy) claiming they have also agreed to a fee with Lazio for Keita Balde Diao, there is little space available on the left-flank, while the right-wing will be taken up by Michail Antonio with Sofiane Feghouli the likely backup. So things do not bode well for Snodgrass at the moment, in the London Stadium and the chances that he will be let go are high.
Newcastle, on the other hand, have just kicked on their summer, after a slow start. Last week saw them confirming the arrivals of Jacob Murphy from Norwich City and defender Javier Manquillo from Atletico Madrid, to join Christian Atsu and Florian Lejeune.
And despite Snodgrass’ struggles in the latter parts of the last season, he will still be a good piece of business for Rafael Benitez’s side. Newcastle have plenty of options to play on the left-wing with Murphy, Atsu and Rolando Aarons and Matt Ritchie is an undisputed choice on the right-side of the attack.
But they do lack someone who can sit in the hole behind the striker and dictate the play for them. And Snodgrass showed that he can offer a serious goal threat and create chances by operating in such a role for Hull.
He has the range of passing and the silky touch needed to operate and succeed in such a role and backs it up with great technical ability that allows him to have a go at the goal from distance and score. The 29-year old is also an expert from set-piece situations, which will add another dimension to the attack as well. He will also be able to provide a great competition to Ritchie on the right-side as well, improving the overall quality of the squad.
At the moment, the Scotland international seems to be short on confidence, but once he gets his mojo back, he can turn out to be a great addition to the Newcastle side and will definitely provide that edge and creativity in their attack, that seemed to be lacking on a number of occasions in the Championship last season. Sign him up, Rafa!
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