Will Hughes - Derby

Consistently linked to every top Premier League side, Derby managed to stave off admiring glances from clubs, especially Liverpool, to retain the youngster for their assault on the Championship to return to the promised land.

If Derby fail this year though, their grasp on Hughes may begin to loosen that little bit more and it would do no harm to Newcastle to enter into negotiations early for this prodigious young talent.

Not fleet of foot but superb technically and 10 yards ahead of most players on the pitch in his head, Will Hughes would provide a lovely complement to the more athletic nature of Tiote and Sissoko.

Playing as part of a midfield 3, Hughes would have more licence to push forward and would enjoy the same at Newcastle with Tiote providing back up and experience.

Much like Clasie, Hughes with time will learn to demand the ball and will begin to take more games by the scruff of the neck and have a meaningful impact pretty much every game as evidenced by his avg. pass accuracy of 87%. Will is no stranger to keeping hold of the ball and taking the attack on, which is something which Cabaye would provide a lot of.

If Newcastle did not want to directly replace Cabaye with a player who would take the same positions, there are a few other potential avenues open to them, in my eyes, which they could consider.

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