Newcastle have been tipped to rekindle their interest in a deal for Everton defender Ben Godfrey during the transfer window, according to Football Transfers.
The outlet report on the website (3 January) that given the Englishman’s £9million asking price at Goodison Park a move is “viable” for the Magpies, although Eddie Howe’s side are also believed to have “a lot more” of a transfer budget than they have previously let on when citing FFP pressures.
Godfrey, 25, has made just three appearances for Sean Dyche this season and has also been linked to Tottenham and Roma, with his contract set to expire in 18-months’ time. Newcastle are believed to be “admirers of the defender’s ability to play across the centre of defence as well as at right-back” while his low asking price also makes a deal attractive.
While Everton are quite likely to need to sell in order to buy during January, and would probably not be able to completely ignore any cash offers full stop given the overall finances at the club, it could be a risk to let Godfrey go for so little.
It is one thing if the Toffees sacrifice useful players for big money but underselling their assets will ultimately only compound their issues balancing the books.
However Godfrey has been relegated to fourth choice at centre-back under Dyche, with Jarrad Branthwaite emerging as a star alongside James Tarkowski, and the manager has persisted with Michael Keane as the first reserve.
But if one of the starters were to be ruled out for any length of time it would leave plenty of fans uncomfortable to be relying on Keane for a sustained period.
Mason Holgate’s time at Everton looks to be over, while Branthwaite is attracting high-profile interest himself, so unless a replacement is lined up the manager will need to be cautious about sanctioning an exit for Godfrey.
From the former Norwich City man’s perspective a switch to St. James’ Park might make a lot of sense, having made only 18 Toffees appearances across all competitions since the start of last season.
But if Everton are willing to let him go to mega-rich Newcastle then they surely need to secure a decent fee for him.
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