Fans on social media hope Newcastle sign ‘class’ Mitchel Bakker to replace Matt Ritchie

Newcastle United have three left-backs at their disposal now Paul Dummett has returned from injury to accompany Matt Ritchie and Jamal Lewis, but Eddie Howe is still looking to strengthen in the position.

Ritchie has been a regular at left-back this season but hasn’t done enough to impress Howe, so a new face might be brought in before the January transfer window shuts.

Sky Sports say the Magpies are interested in Mitchel Bakker and have held talks with Bayer Leverkusen over a potential deal. The 21-year-old is a regular at the BayArena and only joined last summer, so he might be a hard player to prise away. Fans on social media are daring to dream though and wouldn’t mind swapping Ritchie for Bakker.

Gareth Harris: “Bakker has been … class in Champions League games I’ve seen.”

Joey Exotics McTeer: “I’ve watcher Bakker on numerous occasions. He’s bombproof. Great crosser too.”

Bakker joined Leverkusen on a four-year deal from Paris Saint-Germain in July and has gone on to make 16 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal with four assists. The Netherlands U21 international has created six chances, made 19 successful dribbles, whipped in 13 crosses, made 25 clearances and averaged a tackle (17) or interception (13) every 34 minutes.

He has all the attributes to be an effective player for Newcastle if they can get a deal over the line in time.

In other news, fans on social media blast ‘ridiculous’ demands as Newcastle deal for Lingard collapses