Newcastle may ditch Ramsey approach and hijack Villa's replacement target

Newcastle may ditch Ramsey approach and hijack Villa’s replacement target

Newcastle United could reportedly now look to sign an alternative to Aston Villa midfielder Jacob Ramsey after making an approach for the midfielder during the January transfer window.

Newcastle transfer news

The Magpies will be eyeing new signings ahead of the summer, even though it is still a number of months away, after a quiet January in which the Magpies and several other teams were hamstrung by FFP.

One youngster who Newcastle are reportedly leading the race to sign is Sunderland midfielder Chris Rigg, with the 16-year-old someone who could have a bright future in the game. He has made eight Championship appearances this season, despite his tender years, and it would be a good example of long-term planning by the club.

Lille attacker Jonathan David has emerged as a potential attacking signing for the Magpies, as he continues to shine for both his club side and country, scoring a highly impressive 26 goals in 45 caps for Canada.

Abert Gudmundsson is another individual who could boost Eddie Howe’s attacking options, with the Genoa star netting nine times in 22 Serie A appearances this season, averaging 2.5 key passes per game.

Newcastle could sign Emile Smith Rowe over Jacob Ramsey

According to Football Insider, Newcastle are interested in signing Arsenal midfielder Emile Smith Rowe this summer, looking to sign him ahead of competition from Villa.

In fact, he could even be viewed as an alternative option for Villans star Ramsey, who the Tyneside outfit made an approach for last month. Given the profiles of the two players, it seems Villa would bring the Arsenal starlet in as a replacement if Ramsey were sold, so it’s certainly interesting to see Newcastle looking to jump one step ahead and go straight for the Villa star’s probable successor.

Smith Rowe feels like an ideal option at St James’ Park, with the 23-year-old surely considering a fresh challenge because of his lack of minutes at Arsenal of late, starting only two league games this season. The likes of Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are all ahead of him in the pecking order, and that looks unlikely to change moving forward.

The Englishman has admittedly been injury-prone down the years, which does make a move for him a potential risk, but he is still and possesses so much technical ability, being hailed as “special” by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

Related

Newcastle now winning the race to sign wonderful in-demand gem for Howe

This would be some coup…

The fact that Smith Rowe is versatile should be seen as a bonus for Howe, with the Arsenal man capable of shining in a central attacking midfield role or out wide, and he has both the class on the ball and work ethic to slot straight into Newcastle’s squad, pushing others for regular starts.