Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has been urged by pundit Noel Whelan to land a transfer deal for Adrien Rabiot and play him alongside Bruno Guimaraes. 

The Lowdown: Newcastle 'ready' to move for Rabiot

Earlier this month, it was reported that Newcastle are 'ready to go on the offensive' as they eye the Juventus midfielder, who is set to see his current contract at the Italian club expire in the summer.

Prior to his World Cup efforts in Qatar with France, the midfielder had made 11 Serie A appearances for his current club, starting all of them.

Now that the January transfer window is on the way, the Magpies have been urged to seal a deal for the £147k-per-week Frenchman.

The Latest: Newcastle urged to land Rabiot transfer

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan had this to say about Rabiot and the possibility of him playing alongside Guimaraes at Newcastle.

He said: "I think he’s been fantastic for France. We’ve seen him control games, and he’s got that physicality about him which I think means he will compete well in the Premier League.

[web_stories_embed url="https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/newcastle-news-7/" title="Newcastle news!" poster="" width="360" height="600" align="none"] 

“Guimaraes and himself would be such a formidable partnership. That’s full of experience and competitiveness. If they can get that deal done then it just shows where Newcastle are looking to go and where they expect to be."

The Verdict: A suitable signing for Newcastle

With Rabiot and Guimaraes having the same number of goals and assists to their name at club level this season, (three goals and two assists), as well as a very similar passing accuracy percentage (83.4% vs 82.3%), it's easy to see why Whelan thinks the two midfielders would make a formidable duo at St. James' Park.

 

In fact, the France international is included on a list of similar players to the Newcastle star according to Football Transfers.

Taking all of this into account, we feel that if an opportunity to sign Rabiot arises during the upcoming January transfer window, Newcastle should definitely explore the possibility and see if Howe can get him playing alongside Guimaraes.