Signing Babel would be low risk, high reward for Newcastle United

Newcastle United have been linked with former Liverpool attacker Ryan Babel.

With a need for more attacking firepower, Newcastle United are reportedly considering signing Ryan Babel this month. The former Liverpool and Ajax man currently plays for Galatasaray in Turkey and has drawn interest from multiple clubs, including the Magpies. While he’s not a picture-perfect addition, the positives outweigh the negatives for a potential signing.

He’s primarily featured on the left wing throughout his career, but he has some experience as a number nine. For Newcastle United, they just need quality in the attacking half and some goalscoring. In 16 matches last season for Fulham, Babel scored five goals and added four assists. With Allan Saint-Maximin close to returning as the starting left winger, Steve Bruce could use Babel up top alone for more of a mobile striker or he could pair him with Joelinton or Andy Carroll to get a nice one-two punch.

His most prolific scoring season was in 2017-18 when he bagged 15 goals for Besiktas in all competitions. Typically, he scores right around four or five goals, just like right now with five goals in 15 matches for Galatasaray.

The main negative to Babel would be his current age of 33 years old. But, that has come with experience including over 100 Premier League matches and nearly 20 goals in the English top flight. He played under Rafa Benitez in his tenure at Liverpool.

If the price isn’t unreasonable, a one or two year deal would be low risk, high reward for Newcastle United. At best, the famously hair-dying forward could be a spark like he was for Fulham in limited action or at the worst, he’s a veteran you can use as a rotational player with experience in this league.