Report: Newcastle eye double Inter Milan raid for Christian Eriksen and Milan Skriniar

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Italian outlet InterLive have claimed that Newcastle United are considering a double raid on Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan for ex-Tottenham Hotspur playmaker Christian Eriksen and highly-rated defender Milan Skriniar.

Eriksen, 28, joined Inter in January and has since played nine times for Inter – after 305 appearances in all competitions for the north London club. He has been criticised for his lacklustre performances in Italy, since his move.

Meanwhile, Slovakia international Skriniar has also been suggested as a player on Newcastle’s radar – just days after Martin Dubravka claimed he would sign Skriniar if he could. The report says he is worth a whopping £72million.

The report does state that Newcastle will only consider Eriksen if Mauricio Pochettino relocates to Tyneside as manager – in place of Steve Bruce. Certainly, Pochettino has been strongly linked with a move to St. James’ Park.

Newcastle icon Shearer is clearly a fan of Eriksen, telling BBC Sport: “He has been a real driving force for Spurs and, as well as all his goals and assists, he has been brilliant all season at linking everything in that team up.”

TBR’s view – Eriksen would be ideal, Skriniar not so much

Newcastle need goals from midfield. The likes of Jonjo Shelvey, Nabil Bentaleb and the Longstaff brothers are able to notch up the odd goal – but they are not known for their goalscoring pedigree on a regular basis.

Eriksen would provide that, as well as adding a link between midfield and attack and giving Newcastle perfect ammunition from set-pieces. Skriniar is a top, top player, meanwhile, but Newcastle are well-stocked in defence.

But given that Inter want a whopping £72million, he is far too expensive and is hardly required. A takeover, of course, would have to be completed first.