Newcastle United have been tipped to sign Heerenveen's Jacob Trenskow as a bargain alternative to Rayan Cherki to fix their number 10 issue, with the Dane available for a cut-price £7.1m fee.
One of the biggest criticisms levelled at Newcastle United this season is that Matthias Jaissle's 4-2-3-1 is tailor-made to be set up around a number 10, yet they have no natural number 10 options in the squad.
January transfer window targets
Joe Willock and Yoane Wissa have done a decent job playing in the role at times this season but with Newcastle struggling for creativity in attacking areas, it has been identified as a potential area for improvement in the January transfer window.
Stuttgart's Bilal El Khannouss is set to be available for a cut price fee of £33million and given Newcastle were linked with the Moroccan international in the summer, plenty are putting two and two together ahead of the winter window.
Gayle's Cherki praise
Former Newcastle United forward Dwight Gayle was asked by Chronicle Live this week what qualities he would want in a number 10 if he was playing up front in this Magpies side.
"I think someone like [Rayan] Cherki is one of the best number 10s in the Premier League at the moment," Gayle said. "So I think he adds value to any team that he plays in."
While Gayle wasn't suggesting Newcastle try and sign one of Manchester City's key players, a player of that ilk could make a huge difference to their prospects for the rest of the 2026/27 season.
Trenskow's profile
Using DataMB's player similarity tool generator to find players with similar characteristics to Cherki, Atletico Madrid's Alex Baena, Bayern Munich's Luis Diaz, AC Milan's Christian Pulisic and Barcelona's Fermin Lopez emerged as four of the top five results.
While signing those players feels unrealistic, one little-known, wildcard option that emerged was Heerenveen star Jacob Trenskow. The 25-year-old plays as a right-winger or a number 10 for the Dutch side but after a nomadic career that has seen him play in Denmark, Iceland and Sweden, he has found a home at the Abe Lenstra Stadion.
Last season he bagged 16 goals and seven assists in all competitions and he was linked with a summer move to French side Lens, who could have offered him the lure of Champions League football. But he has remained in the Netherlands and he has continued his fine form this term, with seven goals and four assists to his name already and while he remains uncapped by Denmark, he earned his first international call-up earlier this year.
Speaking about Trenskow earlier this year, Heerenveen boss Robin Veldman said: "Jacob has something unpredictable, something unique, that you enjoy watching as a supporter."
Should his current trajectory continue, he could be a name to watch in future transfer windows. Newcastle could do worse in their pursuit of a number 10.
