Newcastle linked with prodigious January addition

After a flying start to life back in the Championship, Newcastle have been caught and overtaken by Brighton in recent weeks.

And although there is a six point gap between them and third-placed Reading, Rafa Benitez will be thinking long and hard about how he embellishes his squad in the January window.

One player who has been linked for a while is a Chelsea starlet of wonderful potential.

Local media outlet, The Newcastle Chronicle, reports:

The Loftus-Cheek deal depends on whether Chelsea can find a club in the Premier League who will offer him regular first team action but Newcastle’s offer of a loan is under consideration by Conte but the Italian is in no rush to make a decision.

The 20-year-old English midfielder has been drawing admiring glances almost since he could kick a ball. He’s played all the way through the England youth international set up and has five goals in just 13 games for the U21 side.

And he made a really respectable 17 appearances for Chelsea last term as Jose Mourinho showed great belief the player.

Without wishing to apply the kiss of death, this isn’t the sort of youngster who is likely to fall by the wayside. But he does need more minutes and simply isn’t getting them at Chelsea right now.

If Newcastle can guarantee some kind of substantial playing time for the dynamic youngster then they could have an excellent short-term signing on their hands and one who could make a positive impression on what already looks like a nailed-on promotion charge.

Newcastle fans: a perfect addition or would you rather add some more experience for the second half of the season?