Newcastle is on the verge of beating Man Utd to Adarabioyo thus fulfilling Guardiola’s prophecy

It seems like Newcastle United have revenge on their minds for Dan Ashworth’s head being turned by Manchester United.

While that departure is undoubtedly going to hurt them off the field while strengthening United, they are determined to land a blow to the Old Trafford outfit in the player transfer market.

TEAMtalk reports that the Magpies have entered “advanced talks” with Man United target Tosin Adarabioyo.

The Fulham man, who has already made his intentions to leave the club on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract in the summer, has many suitors.

The likes of Tottenham, West Ham United, Chelsea, and now Newcastle will rival United if they want to secure his services.

The availability of a proven Premier League player on a free transfer was always going to result in a transfer war.

Looking through that lens, Newcastle’s progress in this deal has been remarkable, with the report stating that they are aiming to seal the deal next week.

It would leave all the rivals, including United, trailing in their wake for a player who would have strengthened their backline for free.

It is an open secret that United are looking for central defensive reinforcements in the summer after a season straight from injury nightmares.

The likes of Antonio Silva, Jarrad Branthwaite, and more have been linked to the club but all of those mentioned players will cost a fortune.

With Tosin, they would have bagged a dependable squad depth player without a transfer fee, freeing up funds for other positions, of which there are many at United.

 

However, all hope is not yet lost for United as Newcastle are still only leading the race and hasn’t sealed the deal yet.

The new darling of EPL clubs is fulfilling Pep Guardiola's prophecy after he became Manchester City manager.

Guardiola began work as Manchester City's boss in the summer of 2016 and immediately looked to implement his passing style.

Adarabioyo was 18 years old at the time, yet was given plenty of chances to impress Guardiola that summer. He featured heavily in pre-season and made a major impression on the new man in charge.

Guardiola liked what he saw from Tosin, and ultimately gave him some senior minutes in his first season. The defender made three appearances that year, including his first-ever Champions League, start.

He spoke very highly of the teenager, praising him in August 2016 during an interview with the Manchester Evening News.

“He’s a nice guy,” he said.

“His mind is open. He listens. He trains every day like it’s the last training of his life.

“And I like a lot to work with these kinds of players. He has his whole career in front of him. Against two tough teams like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, he played well.”

Guardiola added: “We have to tell Tosin he has a lot of steps to get better, so it’s not done, the player isn’t done. But he has all the qualities.

“He is fast, he is faster than the people can believe it. He’s strong in the air. He has the quality to look behind the line for the next step, the next pass, but he has a lot of things to improve and I hope I can help him to develop his skills.”