Howe must ruthlessly axe NUFC dud by landing "£100million" gem who's "one of the best" - opinion

Newcastle United enjoyed a busy January transfer window as they brought in a number of new players to bolster Eddie Howe’s squad.

Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood all came in and this left the club needing to exclude three first-team players from their Premier League list.

Ciaran Clark, Jamal Lewis and Isaac Hayden were the unfortunate ones to miss out as they now look set to waste away on the sidelines for the rest of the season.

Howe must now ruthlessly axe Hayden from the club in the next transfer window by landing Kalvin Phillips on a permanent deal from Leeds United.

FFC previously published an article explaining why he should be kept around at St. James’ Park next season due to his experience in the top-flight – suggesting that he should be re-registered in the summer.

However, 90min have now reported this month that the Magpies are eyeing up a potential swoop for Phillips and their interest in the England international changes our stance.

If PIF can secure a deal for the Whites enforcer that would then surely allow Howe to axe Hayden as he would take up the holding midfield position and be a major upgrade to the team.

The current Newcastle player has averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.60 this year after managing a score of 6.83 in the Premier League last term.

Phillips, meanwhile, has averaged a rating of 6.80 this season – despite injury struggles – and achieved an incredible score of 7.21 in the 2020/21 campaign.

Former Arsenal player Perry Groves claimed that he would cost “£100million” and his Leeds captain Liam Cooper once lauded him, saying: “He works so hard here (at Leeds), all the boys and the people of Leeds think the world of him and he deserves everything that comes