According to a recent report from The Times, Andreas Christensen is unhappy with things under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea at present. The 22-year-old has been at Stamford Bridge since 2012 and has come up through the ranks into the senior set-up in that time, although he has found regular football hard to come by under the new Blues boss so far this season. 

And the defender has recently expressed his frustration with his lack of game time under Sarri, which should be of interest to Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and manager Rafa Benitez, with the £65,000-a-week outcast (as per Spotrac) the sort of quality the latter has been crying out for the former to sign for him during his time at St James’ Park.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Benitez’s hands have been tied pretty much ever since he took over at Newcastle back in 2016, as although he stuck with the club to help them return to the Premier League in 2017, he has since been inadequately backed by owner Ashley.

In fact, the Magpies made a profit on player sales during the summer to underline just how much Benítez is up against it, what with the Spaniard afforded just seven signings during the close season, two of which were loans and another was on a free.

And given their woeful start to the campaign, in which the North East giants have lost six of their eight matches and failed to win either of the other two, it’s plainly obvious that Benitez needs quality additions during the January window if Newcastle are to avoid the drop this term - Christensen would be in that bracket.

The 22-year-old may well have struggled for regular minutes under Sarri this season, failing to appear at all in the Premier League, yet he played a key part in helping Antonio Conte’s Chelsea finish fifth in the top-flight last season, as well as win the FA Cup.

The centre back appeared 27 times in the league and plenty of other times in their other domestic and European commitments to underline the high-esteem former boss Conte held him in, to the point that he kept the more senior David Luiz out of the starting eleven for much of the season.

And in showing genuine defensive qualities during his time in the Chelsea side, it’s clear that the Denmark international is a very accomplished defender at Premier League level, and the sort that could help Newcastle improve a backline that have shipped 13 goals in their eight games, keeping just two clean sheets.

And with the 22-year-old reportedly unhappy with life at Chelsea at present, Ashley must raid the West Londoners for the defender to finally give Benitez what he needs to not only keep Newcastle in the Premier League, but to also take them forward in years to come.

Newcastle fans… what do you think? Let us know!