Granit Xhaka’s fall at Arsenal might work out for Newcastle.
The Magpies are looking to add strength in midfield in January and Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has said that his team will be looking at Xhaka as an option.
“We have six centre-backs and three right-backs but are a bit short in midfield areas, so we’ll have a little look at that,” said Newcastle’s manager in response to a suggestion that Unai Emery could look to offload Xhaka in the new year. “You are always looking to add that bit of quality, so we’ll see if we can.”
“The emergence of Matty has given Jonjo the kick up the backside he needed,” said Bruce. “He set the standard at West Ham and hopefully he’ll repeat that against Bournemouth. He responded in the right way to being left out and trained in the right way.”
“I honestly believe Jonjo was not fully fit,” said Bruce. “His physical stats from West Ham were massively improved so, physically, he can do it. There is this perception he can’t do the distances but he can.
“We all know he’s a good footballer but we are without the ball for the majority of time and Jonjo has to understand he has to do his part out of possession. He did it terrifically well at West Ham but I put him in the team for what he can do on the ball; he’s good for set-piece delivery and can pick a pass.
“I’ve seen a different Jonjo in training in the past couple of weeks. Maybe it was responding to Matty in the right way but he looked fit and healthy and I hope he’s finally playing without pain. The rest probably did him the world of good.”
If Bruce wants to add quality, we really do not see how Xhaka can be the solution.
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