Ronald Koeman turns to Newcastle midfielder

It appears many of the deals Everton had ready to go are falling apart and players like Juan Mata and Axel Witsel might not be joining Everton this fall. That said Koeman is looking at targets closer to home to fulfill his ambitions for the upcoming season. The next target is Holland international Georginio Wijnaldum who is looking to escape the recently relegated Newcastle United.

Wijnaldum is a central, attacking midfielder who played for Feyenoord, but left for PSV Eindhoven the year Koeman took over. That doesn’t mean Koeman was not a fan as he targeted the Dutchman last season at Southampton before he chose Newcastle. Now though Newcastle is demanding £27 million for the midfielder as they try to maintain a team to return to the Premier League quickly.

At only 25 years old, he’s a bit younger than others on Koeman’s list so far. He’s shown a solid goal-scoring ability with 11 goals in 38 Premier League appearances to go along with 10 goals in 25 Europa League matches. He’s been pretty versatile as well playing mostly attacking midfielder, but also both wing positions, central midfield and wide midfield positions.

Based on his targets so far Koeman seems determined to improve the midfield and install good players with strong passing ability and movement. Everton last season struggled in the middle of the park, bridging the buildup from the defense and get the ball to Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku in strong attacking positions as well as net a few themselves.