Newcastle United could look to the summer transfer window to add quality ahead of their return to Champions League football next season and now a reliable source has given an update on a potential target.
What's the latest on Newcastle's interest in Kouadio Kone?
According to journalist Jacque Talbot, Newcastle hold strong interest in signing Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Kouadio 'Manu' Kone this summer.
Talbot revealed to Empire of the Kop (via Caught Offside): "Liverpool and Newcastle are at the table. I think Newcastle’s interest in Kone is quite heavy.
"Kone is certainly one of seven targets I’d say [for Liverpool] and the sounds are about Thuram being further ahead.
"Newcastle are in for him as well, but for some reason the club’s recruitment is pushing for Premier League players."
Would Kone be a good signing for Newcastle?
There is no doubt that Eddie Howe will be thrilled with the amount of expectations that have been exceeded by his talented squad at St James' Park this season.
Nobody could have predicted the consistency and resilience the Magpies have shown over their Premier League campaign and rightfully earned their Champions League spot after conceding the joint-fewest defeats (five) in the entire top flight over 38 fixtures.
Whilst Howe will want to keep the skeleton of his successful squad very much involved in the next chapter for the North East club, it will be important to add in some much-needed quality to bolster key positions on the pitch and strengthen their on-field presence when they compete both domestically and on the European stage next season.
As a result, the signing of Kone could be the perfect opportunity to bring in a player who can comfortably operate in the deepest role in the centre of the pitch, in order to fully unlock Bruno Guimaraes' full potential by giving the Brazilian the freedom to be more creative and present in attacking play.
Since the departure of Jonjo Shelvey in the January transfer window, Guimaraes has been forced to adopt a much deeper and disciplined position as opposed to the more attacking role he thrived in during his explosive initial six months on Tyneside, but if Kone joins that could be about to change.
The 22-year-old ace – dubbed "outstanding" by journalist Josh Bunting – is renowned for his ability to win and retain possession of the ball whilst comfortably and accurately distributing to build progressive play from his deep-lying role.
As per FBref, Kone ranks in the top 25% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for successful take-ons, progressive carries, pass completion, tackles and blocks, with these dominating attributes leading to football talent scout Jacek Kulig branding him a "one-man army".
Not only that, the Frenchman – who has a reported price tag of €40m (£34m) – has averaged 65.7 touches, 39.5 accurate passes, 1.1 interceptions and won a whopping 7.4 duels per game over his 30 Bundesliga outings this season, further demonstrating that he is consistently a massive presence on the pitch.
With that being said, Kone is a midfielder who possesses the profile that is much-needed in the Newcastle set-up, to not only allow Guimaraes the peace of mind to comfortably push forward in attacking opportunities but add some discipline into midfield to avoid counter-attacking chances taken by opponents.
