New Newcastle manager targeting Everton fringe players

It’s been a summer of change over at Newcastle. With manager Rafa Benitez leaving the club, the amount of vitriol being directed at hated owner Mike Ashley has only increased as each day passes by without a new manager being named.

Not that the name leading the pack is one that fills Magpies with confidence. The ‘venerable’ Steve Bruce is still around and after a weekend of talks with his current club Sheffield Wednesday and the Newcastle leadership, it is expected he will be appointed manager sooner than later.

The Toon have already lost Ayoze Perez, Mohamed Diame and Salomon Rondon in this transfer window while they look to fill the manager vacancy, but according to 90Min, Bruce wants two of Everton’s fringe players to be his first signings.

Yannick Bolasie lost a big chunk of time due to injury and finds himself on the outside looking in at Everton. A tepid showing at this summer’s Africa Cup of Nations hasn’t helped his cause, though he did seem to do better out on loan at Anderlecht in the second half of the 2018-19 season.

James McCarthy similarly struggled to regain a spot in the matchday squads last season after recovering from a double leg break. He has been told that he needs to get regular games to be eligible for Republic of Ireland contention again, and will be looking to make a move to a side where he can get more minutes.

In a dream situation Marcel Brands will be able to sell both players off - Bolasie is 30 and has two years left on his deal while McCarthy is 28 and entering the last year of his current contract. However, that failing even a loan deal would do for now as Brands looks to hand Marco Silva a more manageable squad.