Team exclusive: Newcastle pay attention to Club Brugge defender Ordonez; Smit wants £30 million

Hupu reported on November 21 that Craig Hope, a famous reporter from the Daily Mail, exclusively answered questions from Newcastle fans.

The team is currently ranked 14th. Is Eddie Howe under pressure?

No, he shouldn't feel pressured either. Howe must find a way out of their current poor away record, otherwise the entire season will be in jeopardy. But it’s also understood that the team’s summer preparations (on and off the field) were far from ideal, and perhaps what we’re seeing now is the legacy of that.

Even so, Hao didn't want this to become an excuse. He and his players must respond after back-to-back defeats to West Ham United and Brentford this weekend.

What do you think Howe will do after Dan Byrne returns from suspension?

If Lewis Hall can start by then (and he should be able to), then Howe has two options: either adopt a three-center-back formation and let Byrne and Sven Botman partner with Malik Jiafu; or decide who of Bourne and Botman will start with Jiafu. I don’t think we’ll see Burn at left back.

To be fair, although Byrne has performed poorly in the last two Premier League games, before that, he performed very well at the left back position.

Moreover, his form at the center back position at the beginning of the season may be the best form of his career. So I sympathize with Burn, and the ideal situation for him would be for him to go back to centre-back in a back four, which is the position that suits him best.

What would Hao do? I think, in the short term, we'll see Byrne and Botman rotate at left centre-back - hopefully the best player wins that spot in the key games!

There have been a lot of rumors recently about Newcastle's active signings in the Netherlands and Belgium - is there any progress on this front?

Yes, I can confirm that Newcastle have scouted Joel Ordonez from Club Brugge. The 21-year-old Ecuadorian central defender has been favored by many Premier League clubs, and it is believed that his next stop is likely to be the Premier League.

However, as far as Newcastle's current situation is concerned, apart from the close attention of scouts, they have not taken any actual action.

The Post exclusively revealed last week that AZ Alkmaar midfielder Kees Smit has attracted the attention of more clubs. While the 19-year-old faces competition from both domestic and international sources, I have a feeling the club are hoping to make an offer that satisfies Smits (including financial and development considerations).

It is reported that AZ Alkmaar hopes to obtain a transfer fee of 20 million to 25 million pounds from the Dutch U21 international.

So what is the situation in South America?

I have noticed that there has been a lot of discussion recently about the 19-year-old Brazilian player Rayan Vitor, who currently plays for Vasco da Gama. However, this was mainly due to agents trying to broker a move to the Premier League for Rayang.

Newcastle United have noticed him and have been contacted by several agents, but so far, that's all.