Highly unnecessary move? – Newcastle United signing this £40m PL midfield star would be an absolute waste

Newcastle United Opinion: Splashing 40 million on Bakayoko wouldn’t be a good choice for the Magpies

According to claims from The Shields Gazette, Newcastle United have emerged as shock contenders to sign Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko in the summer, with owner Mike Ashley reportedly ready to fork out £40 million to secure the services of the former Monaco man.

Bakayoko, who made his move to Chelsea from AS Monaco for a fee of £40 million back in the summer of 2017, failed to replicate his good form in the Premier League and was shipped out on loan to AC Milan last summer.

The 24-year-old has rediscovered his mojo on his loan spell at San Siro this season, and although the Rossoneri have the option of triggering the buy clause in his loan deal, Bakayoko’s future at the club remains uncertain, thanks to his strained relationship with manager Gennaro Gattuso.

The 1-cap French international has made a total of 29 appearances for Milan in the Serie A and his consistent performances in central midfield have earned him plenty of plaudits.

However, The Shields Gazette understands that the 24-year-old does not feature in manager Maurizio Sarri’s plans for the upcoming season and Chelsea are keen to recoup most of the cash that they spent on him a couple of years back.

Meanwhile, Newcastle have plenty of things to sort out in the summer transfer window as far as their central midfield department is concerned. Issac Hayden is almost sure to leave the club due to personal reasons while Mo Diame is also likely to head for the exit door following a contract dispute with the club.

On the other hand, Jonjo Shelvey has also struggled for form and fitness and there is still a question mark over his future on Tyneside. (h/t Shields Gazette)

The potential departures of  Mo Diame, Hayden and Shelvey would leave manager Rafael Benitez with only Ki-Sung Yueng and youngster Sean Longstaff as viable options in central midfield, meaning that the Magpies will need to dip into the transfer window to bring in reinforcements.

To put things into perspective, Newcastle are in dire need of adding at least another combative midfielder to their ranks this summer and 24-year-old Bakayoko perfectly fits the profile of players that the Magpies like to target.

However, the Newcastle hierarchy should understand that splashing a club-record amount on a player like Bakayoko might not be the best idea, given that he failed to acclimatise to the style of play prevalent in the Premier League during his time at Chelsea.

Bakayoko offers a lot in terms of work-rate and distribution in the middle of the park but he struggled to cope with the pace of the game in the Premier League last season.

Not only did he leave a lot to be desired with his sense of positioning in the midfield but he also struggled to deal with the transitions in play, being caught out of position numerous times during counter-attacking situations due to his lack of tactical awareness.

He was slammed for his errors by the fans and the pundits last season and things could have been worse for him had it not been for N’Golo Kante’s presence in the midfield.

Agreed, Bakayoko has rediscovered his form in the Serie A but one should remember that the tempo and pace of the game in the Italian top flight is not the same as the Premier League.

He is still young and there is every possibility that he might do better this time around should he get another crack in the Premier League but that would be too big a gamble for Newcastle. Moreover, Bakayoko’s huge wage demands would be a massive burden for the club to shoulder.

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Newcastle do, indeed, need to find replacements for their departing central midfielders but one cannot help but feel that the Magpies would find better alternatives in the market for a more reasonable price.