The Toon Army were celebrating their excellent start to the New Year yesterday as they fought hard to record a 1-0 victory against Stoke City at the Bet365 stadium.

Ayoze Perez has hardly been one of the Newcastle supporters favourite players so far this season, but he made a great stride towards winning them over by converting Jacob Murphy’s cross with poachers finish to ensure Newcastle would leave The Potteries with all three-points on New Year’s day. Victory for The Magpies gave the Newcastle supporters a massive boost in their bid for Premier League survival this season, as they moved 4 points clear of the relegation zone into 13th position after 22 fixtures.

Perez’s decisive strike was only his 2nd of the season from 20 appearances, and the Spaniard will be hoping to improve on that record significantly for the remainder of the season.

The goal was perhaps more significant for Jacob Murphy, who provided his first assist for the club since his transfer from Norwich last summer.

Although the Toon army propping up the bar were pleased to see Murphy finally make an impact, that particular statistic should be giving the supporters cause for concern considering it was his first assist in 17 fixtures for the club.

However, it must be considered that without intelligent movement and clinical finishing from the strikers, Murphy’s end product from out-wide will continue to look statistically unimpressive.

It is difficult to know who to blame for Murphy’s, and Newcastle’s struggle in the final-third more generally, but there is no doubt that Benitez’s squad would benefit from further acquisition’s in wide positions this month.

With that being said, here are two wingers Newcastle should attempt to bring to the club in January…

Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Armenia’s captain and Manchester United flop can play on both the left and right-hand side of the field, as well as through the middle, and his versatility would make him a huge asset to Newcastle during the final stages of the season.

It is unlikely that Newcastle will be able to afford to sign Mkhitaryan on a permanent basis, but there is every chance that they may be able to tempt him away from Manchester on a temporary loan deal initially.

Something has gone majorly wrong for Mkhitaryan at United, but there is no doubt that he has shown immense levels of ability throughout his career prior to moving to England.

The former Borussia Dortmund talent will be keen to resurrect his career as quickly as possible, and Benitez would be wise to provide him the place to do just that in January.

Simone Verdi

25-year-old Simone Verdi is currently plying his trade as a right-winger for 12th placed Bologna in Seria A.

So far this season, Verdi has been in terrific form for the club, as he has scored 6 goals and provided 5 assists within 20 appearances for the club.

Verdi has caught the attention of the media in 2017 after he scored two free-kicks in the same match with different feet.

On that evidence alone, it seems that Verdi possesses a unique form of flair and creativity that is severely lacking amongst the wide-players who are currently plying their trade on Tyneside.

Verdi would undoubtedly inject some much-needed quality into Newcastle’s attacking dynamic, so Benitez should be making an enquiry into the availability of the Bologna star this month.