Newcastle United are continuing to search for attractive options for the right-side of Eddie Howe’s attack and have been impressed by Celtic forward Nicolas Kuhn so far this season.
Chronicle Live first reported on the Magpies’ interest in mid-January, with scouts paying several visits to watch the German forward in recent months. Reports this week again suggest a watching brief has been undertaken when Celtic hosted Bayern Munich in the Champions League play-off stage in recent days.
Kuhn fits the profile of an Eddie Howe signing, given the 25-year-old can also operate centrally or on the left; a trait the Newcastle boss constantly seeks out in his attacking signings, as seen with William Osula, Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak in recent years.
Celtic, in turn, may be able to turn a quick profit on a player they signed for just £3m only 13 months ago, with big-name suitors circling for a player who has 29 goal involvements in 35 games so far this term. However, the player’s agent – former Rangers star Christian Nerlinger – has already played down any talk of an exit materialising.
“The speculation is not an issue for us. We have found a home for Nicolas at Celtic,” he said earlier in the campaign when Kuhn was first being linked with a Parkhead exit. “We are not, never, walking out on Celtic without being together with the club because this success story was created by Celtic.
“I know from my time at Rangers it was very hard to get something out of the television rights, so of course they need to find these success stories – identify a player, buy him for £3million and sell him for £20-£25million – but we will do everything together with the club.”
A fee of £20-25m would suit Newcastle down to the ground as they continue to wrestle with Profit and Sustainability Rules [PSR]. The Magpies have already shown they are perhaps casting their eye over cheaper targets, having once been tempted by a £65m move for Marc Guehi last summer, before switching their attention to – but missing out on – fellow centre-back Abdukodir Khusanov in the January window.
When discussing a quiet January and the hope of a more fruitful summer, Howe recently said: “I don’t know if this summer will be different and suddenly the outlook totally changes. I think that’s for another day. What I would say is that hopefully the future beyond looks very different.”
