Newcastle should go all out to sign Garry Rodrigues in January
According to an earlier report from Chronicle Live, Newcastle United had submitted a £6million bid to sign Garry Rodrigues but the offer was turned down by Galatasaray. In fact, the Turkish giants have made it clear that they won’t consider a bid less than €15million.
Born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands Rodrigues chose to play international football for the Cape Verde islands as his parents had their roots based there in Africa. After playing for Dutch club Feyenoord in the youth ranks, he had a couple of stints with non-league clubs before joining ADO Den Haag. However, things didn’t work out for him and he shifted base to Bulgaria with Levski Sofia where he had a successful spell.
Following a two-year spell in Bulgaria, Rodrigues had brief stints with Elche and PAOK before joining Galatasaray in 2017. Since then, he has made a total of 55 appearances across all competitions, scoring 13 goals and setting up another 11 for his teammates.
Newcastle have made a calamitous start to the season and the Magpies are still in search of their first win. With only 2 points from 8 games, Rafael Benitez’s men sit in the relegation zone just ahead of Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town on goal difference.
It would be difficult to blame the manager for their lacklustre start to the season given the club did not sign exciting talents in the transfer window. Although Newcastle bought quality defenders like Federico Fernandez and Fabian Schar, they could not acquire too many attackers in the summer.
Loan deals for Kennedy from Chelsea and Salomon Rondon from West Brom, along with signing Yoshinori Muto, were the only offensive players they managed to bring into the squad.
Questionable tactics and lack of intent have been a major cause behind Newcastle’s undoing this season. Benitez’s ultra-defensive tactics haven’t allowed the team to dictate proceedings and they have not had enough players in the final third to create chances. On most occasions, they have just sat back and defended for their lives.
The only flashes of intent have come from the likes of Matt Ritchie, Kennedy and Jacob Murphy, all of whom have made an effort to make things happen with some lung-busting runs. However, they have lacked support from the other players. To sum it up, the end product hasn’t been anything to speak of.
Newcastle are in desperate need of some attacking recruits and Garry Rodrigues could be an ideal option. Primarily a left-winger by trade, the versatile 27-year-old Cape Verdean international is capable of playing on the right and as a forward in a two-man attack.
While playing as a left-winger, he often cuts inside with his stronger right foot and either fancies his chances with a shot on goal or links the play with his teammates with short passes. When deployed on the right, he utilizes his crossing abilities to find the target man in the box.
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A move to the Premier League could possibly extract his best as the game is more dynamic and he is likely to get more open spaces to exploit. He is capable of sparking that creativity from the wide areas, which is something Newcastle need desperately.
The Magpies should boost their funds and match Galatasaray’s demands in January to land this 27-year-old speed machine as he might help them achieve a better scoring record.
