According to reports in The Sun, Newcastle United are battling Premier League rivals Southampton and West Bromwich Albion in the race to sign Napoli midfielder Allan this summer.
Despite the fact that he has been a key player for the Serie A giants over the course of the last two seasons following a move from Udinese, The Sun says the Italian side are ready to cash in on him before the transfer window slams shut if they receive an acceptable offer.
Magpies manager Rafa Benitez has already strengthened his squad ahead of their Premier League return after bringing Christian Atsu, Florian Lejeune, Jacob Murphy and Javier Manquillo to St James’ Park, but he won’t be finished there as he looks to lead his side to safety in the upcoming top flight campaign.
While the Spaniard may face competition from Saints and the Baggies for the Brazilian, he will be hopeful that the midfielder, who is rated at £13.6m by transfermarkt.com, is the next arrival through the door.
Here are three reasons Newcastle must win the race to sign Allan…
Tenacity
The Brazilian has proved during his time in Serie A that he is a tenacious midfielder that loves a tackle and to beat an opponent.
If Rafa Benitez is looking to add some more energy and aggression in the centre of the park then Allan could be the man for the job, and he successfully won 51 tackles and completed 39 take-ons in 29 Italian top flight appearances for Napoli last term.
That record is nothing compared to the one he had in the 2014/15 campaign with Udinese though, when he won 128 tackles in 35 Serie A appearances – the most in Europe’s top five leagues – and successfully completed 77 take-ons.
That shows the ability he has and they are attributes that could be important in a Newcastle side that may need to spend a lot of their time trying to win the ball back in the Premier League in the upcoming season.
Creative ability
Allan has shown that he isn’t just effective from a defensive point of view though, and that he can also be effective in attack too.
The 26-year-old created 29 chances and provided six assists in 29 Serie A appearances last term from the middle of the park, proving that he has the ability to find a final pass in the final third too.
With an overall passing accuracy of 86% the Brazilian has also shown that he isn’t wasteful in possession, and that will be important for Newcastle in what could prove to be a difficult return to the Premier League.
Price tag
The Sun says that Allan could be available for £10m and considering some of the ridiculous transfer fees that have been thrown around already during this summer transfer window, signing the Brazilian for that price could turn out to be a bargain.
The 26-year-old has shown just how effective and influential he can be from the middle of the park, and the fact that he should be approaching the peak years of his career makes a deal that is too good to turn down.
Certainly fitting into their price range, Newcastle manager Benitez will hope that his previous time managing Napoli can give him the advantage over his Premier League rivals in getting a deal over the line.
Do you agree, Magpies fans? Let us know below.
