Newcastle United are reportedly interested in signing Jake Livermore from West Brom in the summer and are ready to use Dwight Gayle and Jacob Murphy as bait to land the England international.

TeamTealk has claimed that Salomon Rondon and Kieran Gibbs are also wanted on permanent deals at St James’ Park, and the Tyneside club is ready to offer up their loaned-out duo in order to raid The Hawthorns for some key players.

IS HE SPECIAL?

Not really. Livermore has played a key role in West Brom’s season despite not many of their fans knowing what the 29-year-old actually does. He is by no means an attack-minded player and his lack of mobility strikes off the possibility of him being a box-to-box midfielder. Livermore is hardly a proven passer of their ball either with a pass completion percentage of just 84.1 in the Championship this season [WhoScored]. The seven-times England international is definitely a more defensive-minded midfielder, but West Brom leak goals when he plays as he offers next to no protection for their backline. It is worth mentioning that this is all in the Championship and Newcastle need Premier League level players if they want to get anywhere next season. Livermore would be no more than the new Geremi if Newcastle signed him, as he would be an awful addition to the side.

WHERE WILL HE FIT INTO THE TEAM?

Newcastle might need to sign a replacement for Mohamed Diame in the summer as the Senegal international’s contract expires at the end of the season. Livermore played alongside Diame at Hull, and neither have shown themselves to be that useful since leaving the Humberside club. Newcastle need to look for an improvement on Diame if he does leave in the summer, and Livermore would be a sideways, if not backwards, step. Rafa Benitez should avoid the West Brom centre-midfielder and scrap those plans to sign him.

INTERESTING FACT

Livermore loves a late winner. His last three goals for West Brom have all been match-winners, two of which have been scored in stoppage time.