Newcastle could find Coloccini 2.0 in Sule | OneFootball

Saudi Arabian consortium PIF completed their takeover of Newcastle United from Mike Ashley earlier this month and hope may never have been higher amongst the fanbase in the past decade.

Whilst supporters may be buzzing with the potential of PIF leading the club to glory, there must also be a degree of realism heading into the January window. At this early stage in Newcastle’s, hopeful, revival they may not be able to attract big-name, established stars straight off the bat.

Given their recent bottom-half finishes in the Premier League and the playing squad, with all due respect to the current players they hold, top-quality ‘world-class’ players may not want to risk coming to Tyneside and not achieving success in the first couple of seasons.

This means that the Magpies could have more success in negotiations if they eye young players with the potential to become great or players who have fallen off the track on their way to being top-class and working to get them back to their best.

Bayern Munich central defender Niklas Sule falls into the latter. The £31.5m-rated beast has been linked, by German outlet Bild, with a potential move to St. James’ Park and he is the ideal profile of a player the new owners should be looking at to progress Newcastle to the next level.

Could Sule be the next Coloccini?

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PIF could land Fabrizio Coloccini 2.0 for the Magpies by securing a deal for the German colossus, which is why must swoop for him in January. Coloccini was a stalwart at the back for the club in the early 2010s, making 211 Premier League appearances and securing a Championship promotion along the way.

The curly-haired rock of a defender averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.78 or higher in every season for the Magpies leading up to his final campaign for the club – when he dropped to 6.69. This shows how he was a consistent, reliable, centre-back for Newcastle in the top-flight, which is what Sule could be.

At the age of 26, the German international has plenty of time left to be a regular at St. James’ for many seasons to come. In fact, Coloccini was 26 at the time of his move from Deportivo in 2008 and was able to play 275 competitive games in his time on Tyneside.

Sule is out of contract at the end of the season and Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann opened the door to a potential exit for him due to his poor form earlier this year, whilst also claiming that he has the tools to become a world-class defender. He said:

“I think it’s important to be completely transparent with the players. The players also need to understand the club’s perspective concerning the contractual situation.

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“Niki’s contract expires next year, and his last season was not especially felicitous. But he also has everything that a world-class central defender needs; that shouldn’t be forgotten.”

This suggests that he is a player with the potential to be a top-tier defender, having gone through a rough patch recently. Therefore, he could be tempted by the prospect of arriving at Newcastle at the start of this new era and being one of the leaders in the group to lift them up the Premier League table.

Sule has also averaged a career WhoScored rating of 6.95, playing for Hoffenheim, Germany and Bayern, across 245 appearances. This shows that he has been able to perform to a high standard for the majority of his career to date, in spite of Nagelsmann’s comments on his recent form, and that is why Newcastle should swoop now in an attempt to get him back to his best.