The £35m blockbuster Newcastle United signing that could become the club’s next Hatem Ben Arfa
Newcastle United are believed to be interested in one of the Bundesliga’s finest flair players
Newcastle United have been graced with many of the most renowned flair players in Premier League history over the years including the likes of David Ginola, Laurent Robert, Kieron Dyer, Hatem Ben Arfa and even in more recent times Allan Saint-Maximin.
Their current group also features plenty of exciting players on the flanks. Anthony Gordon over the last two and a half years has established himself as a regular England international while Harvey Barnes, who has recently usurped him in the pecking order seems to have put his earlier injury woes behind him and is finding the net on a much more consistent basis.
There’s also Jacob Murphy, a player that many wrote off after the takeover, producing the best form of his career at the age of 30 and catapulting himself into the England conversation with a series of consistent displays.
However, the wide areas are still seen as an area where Newcastle need to improve due to their lack of depth after the reluctant sale of Yankuba Minteh to Brighton last summer and more recently the mid-season exit of Miguel Almiron to the MLS after five and half memorable years on Tyneside.
Mail Sport reporter Craig Hope understands the Magpies are keen to make a statement of intent in this transfer window and claims the club are monitoring highly-rated Borussia Dortmund prodigy Jamie Gittens.
Why Jamie Gittens could be the winger that Newcastle United need
Gittens is a highly-rated England Under-21 international that is currently making waves in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund. The 20-year-old was born in Reading and had spells on the books of his local club along with Chelsea and Manchester City before eventually taking a similar route into football to that of Jadon Sancho by joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020.
Gittens was handed his first team debut in 2022 under Marco Rose and gradually became a more important member of the first team in the following two seasons under Edin Terzić. Last season, he made 34 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals and making six and making six assists, with his most telling contribution coming against AC Milan as he scored and set-up a goal during a 3-1 Group Stage victory.
However, it’s this season’s performances that have really made the world step up and pay attention to Gittens. Overall, he’s scored 12 and contributed five assists in 47 appearances across all competitions. German media: Bild, the country’s biggest tabloid, described him as a “goldjunge” — golden boy. Kicker, the football website, referred to him as an “unterschiedsspieler” — or difference-making player. So, this feels like a significant moment in his development.
Is Jamie Gittens good enough to start for Newcastle United?
Gittens started the season in tremendous form for Borussia Dortmund despite his team’s poor results in the league and was among their most productive players with seven of his league goals coming in the first 19 games. He’s played predominantly as a left-winger which is a position where Newcastle already have plenty of quality in Barnes and Gordon, but is predominantly right footed and also has the ability to play on the right side of the attack.
Gittens is a player with high potential, excellent speed and a knack of cutting inside from the left hand side and curling in shots with his right foot. He’s still very raw in terms of his consistency and all round output, but has proven he’s a player with a tremendously high ceiling and the potential to be one of the best wingers in the world in the near future.
His ability to dribble past defenders is seen as his best asset and he currently boasts 29 successful take-ons leading to shots, which is the most in the entire Bundesliga and six clear of second placed Florian Wirtz, who is linked with Man City and Liverpool. Of those take-ons, six have resulted in goals which is the most in the division, while it’s likely those sort of numbers would only increase if he was playing with someone with the clinical finishing of Alexander Isak next term.
Whether Gittens would be targeted as a right-winger or a left-winger remains to be seen amid speculation surrounding Aston Villa and a potential approach to Harvey Barnes, but it’s clear to see that Gittens has the potential to be an asset in the Newcastle team as he aims to stake a claim for Thomas Tuchel’s England squad in the World Cup in 2026.
Eddie Howe has already helped youngsters such as Tino Livramento, Lewis Hall and Anthony Gordon make the jump from Under-21 football into the senior England team while he’s also helped Callum Wilson in the past make his England debut at Bournemouth along with more recent examples such as Joelinton for Brazil and Dan Burn for England.
Reports from talkSPORT suggest Gittens is valued at around £35m although it’s also suggested that Chelsea could make a move to try and sign him despite already having Noni Madueke, Pedro Neto, Jadon Sancho and forgotten man Mykhailo Mudryk on the books while already confirming the signing of Sporting prodigy Geovany Quenda ahead of the summer of 2026.
A potential move for Gittens could signal a statement of intent for Newcastle as they look to continue their upward momentum after winning the Carabao Cup and achieving European qualification.