Newcastle United Fan View: Magpies to snap up Javier Hernandez

News broke this morning on Sky Sports that West Ham United’s Mexican striker, Javier Hernandez, could leave the London club this transfer window. West Ham are looking to recoup most of the £16m they paid for him in the summer. Will Rafa Benitez be interested?

Of course, if you have just read the above paragraph and came up with a response such as “he costs £16m, no chance will Ashley pay that” you will be thinking along the same lines as me but an interesting twist to this story is that there seems to be strong interest from West Ham in the purchase of Newcastle United midfielder Jonjo Shelvey. Could a swap deal be on the cards?

A lot of the talk this transfer window has been on the lack of budget that Rafa Benitez has at his disposal; or rather that Rafa does not have a clue how much he has to spend as noone has told him. My guess is nothing.

I have mentioned a few times over the last few weeks that I truly believe that Newcastle’s main source of success this window will be in the loan window; with or without a takeover in place.

It is a World Cup year and there will be players all over Europe wanting to get first team football in a bid to cement their place in their national team’s World Cup squad; English players like Sturridge, Drinkwater and Walcott spring to mind immediately.

Attention

For Rafa to buy anyone outright, it seems he needs to sell first and the focus of most people’s attention has been on Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic.

The fan favourite has been linked with numerous clubs and whilst nothing has materialised yet, the prospect of signing a young, passionate, international class striker for around the £10m mark – in today’s market – is an attractive one so if Mitro is available, I suspect his sale will be pushed through fairly quickly.

That should leave Benitez with some money to buy players (although under Ashley this is never straightforward). However, whilst the press and fans have been keeping a close eye on Mitrovic, one player who looks to be nearing an exit from the club is Jonjo Shelvey.

Much like Mitrovic, Shelvey is a hot head. He has lost games for Newcastle United due to his behaviour on the pitch and again, much like Mitro, I suspect Rafa does not trust him. Shelvey is a wonderful player, he has been one of the main driving forces behind Newcastle’s “re-birth” under Benitez and I will be sad to see him go.

However, we are well equipped in the centre of midfield with Merino and Hayden and should an offer come in for Shelvey, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him go.

Some London press and West Ham Twitter accounts are stating the deal is as good as done; the only hold up is waiting for the magpies to sign a replacement but with the news this morning breaking on Javier Hernandez, I do wonder if Rafa will eye up some kind of swap deal for the Mexican involving Shelvey.

Hernandez was linked with a move to Newcastle United before he arrived in London, his fee at the time, as ever, being a stumbling block to his alleged move but could now be the time to get him in?

I can’t say I am a huge fan of his, he excelled in a world class Manchester United side but you could argue who wouldn’t? He then had a good spell with Leverkusen in Germany, scoring a goal every other game but I would query what he brings to the side that Dwight Gayle doesn’t? They are both very similar players, both pacey, both small, both have an eye for goal but if he comes and scores goals to keep us up, that is the main thing.

It is certainly one to watch.