Newcastle should push for Jesse Lingard

Newcastle United are 12th in the Premier League for shots (11.9 per game) and 16th in the league for expected goals, so the Magpies aren’t creating enough clear cut opportunities.

This might be down to Newcastle’s over reliance on their wide-men (Allan Saint-Maximin, Ryan Fraser, Miguel Almiron and Jacob Murphy) for creativity, though the quartet only have nine assists between them.

Eddie Howe could benefit from signing a playmaker and Jesse Lingard might tick every box. The 29-year-old has made 232 appearances in all competitions for Manchester United, scoring 35 goals with 21 assists.

Lingard could be on his way out of Old Trafford this summer as he’s surplus to requirements under Ralf Rangnick and is out of contract in the coming weeks.  The England international has made 22 appearances across the board this season, scoring two goals with one assist.

Lingard tried to fight for his place in Manchester after impressing at West Ham United the previous season (16 games, 9 goals, 5 assists), but he’s found himself behind Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes in the pecking order. Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga have been preferred to Lingard out wide too.

And although the 29-year-old has amassed just 355 minutes of Premier League football, Lingard has averaged a created chance every 44.5 minutes, which is better than Allan Saint-Maximin (55.9), so he’d improve the squad without breaking the bank.

Newcastle tried and failed to sign Lingard in January, so they should return in the coming weeks.

In other news, Darren Bent says Newcastle should sign Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace