By Paul Robinson

28th Sep, 2022 | 9:04am

Newcastle United told to seal deal for Jonjo Shelvey 'upgrade' after report - pundit

Paul Robinson has urged Newcastle United to seal a deal for Leicester City midfielder Youri Tielemans in January.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the former Spurs and England number one suggested the 25-year-old would be “an upgrade” on the likes of Jonjo Shelvey at St. James’ Park.

According to The Mirror (25 September p. 77), the Magpies have set their sights on signing Tielemans when the transfer window re-opens.

It is reported that a bid of £15million is set to be launched in January.

Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal have also been linked with the centre-midfielder.

Tielemans has entered the final 12 months of his contract at the King Power Stadium.

When asked by Football Insider if the Belgium international would be a welcome addition for Eddie Howe’s side, Robinson said: “Tielemans is a top player.

“He has lost his way a little bit but a lot of the Leicester players have. Things just are not right there at the moment.

“If the owners are not putting any money in, as we have seen, there is a deal to be done for Tielemans in January.

“You would have to overpay for a player who has six months left on his contract but it would still be cheap. I imagine there will be a lot of teams in the race to sign him in January. Newcastle have the financial power to do a deal.

“Tielemans would definitely be an upgrade on some of their other midfielders. He is the level of [Bruno] Guimaraes. He is a top player and that is why Arsenal and Man United have looked at him.

“I would be very surprised if Tielemans is still at Leicester come February.”

In other news, a medical insider has revealed Alexander Isak’s Newcastle United return date and it is ‘worse than we feared’.